There's No Camembert in Tibet Outtakes
by quicksilversquared
Summary: Sometimes a lot can change behind the scenes between stories. (Assorted side stories/outtakes from before/after There's No Camembert in Tibet)
1. Alya & Nino: Secrets

The time following Mr. Agreste's arrest was... _uneasy_ , to say the least. Classmates weren't initially sure whether to comfort Adrien or give him space, and so compromised with talking to him like they would normally while making sure that students from other classes kept their distance. Teachers tried to figure out how to treat Adrien, not wanting to look like they were tiptoeing around. Nino and Alya attempted conversation, but there were too many topics to avoid, awkward pauses where they might normally make a comment about the latest superhero news.

Adrien was quieter than usual, but not nearly as much as most people had expected him to be. He seemed to be adjusting well to not having his father around, and Nathalie certainly seemed to be giving him more freedom than before. He smiled and even laughed at jokes, only becoming quieter when the topic of the akumas cropped up.

It was almost as though he had already gotten over the shock of his father being Hawkmoth, Alya had commented one morning as she and Nino watched Adrien discussing video games with Max and Marinette. Like he had maybe suspected something before it happened. Like maybe _he_ was the one who had tipped Ladybug and Chat Noir off.

It was _strange_.

But the largest change was how much time Adrien spent with Marinette. Nino had kind of suspected that his best friend might end up sort of glued to his side while adjusting, but instead Adrien seemed attached to Marinette. Adrien had been closer to her in the weeks leading up to Mr. Agreste's arrest, but Nino had assumed that maybe they were just becoming better friends or were bonding over video games or something. Maybe Adrien was just taking advantage of the fact that Marinette seemed to be the only one of his friends that his father approved of enough for him to visit.

Maybe Adrien was just so close to Marinette because she had been with him when he got the news about his father, but then that threw off Nino's hunch about Adrien being the one to tip off Ladybug and Chat Noir about Hawkmoth.

Because there was no denying that Ladybug and Chat Noir had _known_ about Mr. Agreste being Hawkmoth before they arrived. Their attack had been too planned out for it to have just been a hunch, and the supervillain hadn't exactly ventured out from his lair so that he could be tracked back or anything. They had learned _something_ , and honestly, either Adrien or any of Mr. Agreste's staff would be in the best position to notice something like that.

"Yo, Alya," Nino greeted his girlfriend one morning, joining her on the top of the wall by the school stairs. She seemed to be staring at the Dupain-Cheng bakery. "What's up?"

Alya startled, as though she hadn't noticed him coming up. "Nino! Oh, I-" she waved a hand and then her reporter face slid on. "I've had a hunch over the past couple of days, and I was just trying to see if I could confirm it."

"What is it?" Nino asked, curious. He looked over at the bakery, too. "Or don't you want to share yet?"

Alya leaned closer to him. "I've been noticing that Adrien and Marinette always come to school together, and they leave from the bakery."

Nino's brow furrowed. "Yeah? I figured that Adrien probably goes there for breakfast or something. He loves their croissants, and their breakfast pastries, and their bread, and the omelets that Mrs. Cheng makes-"

Alya snorted. "Has Adrien spend all of his time with you waxing poetic about the food at Marinette's house?"

"Just the once, really."

"Okay, but I've come early for a few days, and I've _never_ seen Adrien arrive," Alya continued, going back to their earlier topic. "I've never seen the Gorilla dropping him off, or heading away from the bakery, or _anything_. So I came _super_ early today, before I usually even get up, just to see."

Nino frowned. "Wait, what are you getting at?"

"I think that he's staying over," Alya said seriously, nodding at the Dupain-Cheng house. "There's no way that Adrien came over before I arrived, because Marinette wouldn't even be up yet and I _know_ that Adrien mentioned that he's sleeping in a little later in the mornings instead of getting up at the crack of dawn. Combine that with the fact that I overheard some reporters near Adrien's house talking about how they can never catch him in the mornings or when he comes home, and I bet that he only rarely actually goes back to the mansion."

Nino blinked, puzzled. "Does Marinette's family even _have_ a guest room?" He hadn't thought so. He hadn't been over to Marinette's house _that_ often, so he wasn't positive of the layout, but he was _pretty_ certain that there was Marinette's room, the kitchen/living room area, a bathroom, her parents' room, and then the bakery. "I mean, Nathalie probably wouldn't okay Adrien sleeping on their couch, right? And Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng get up pretty early to start baking and wouldn't they be in their kitchen area to get breakfast then?"

"I hadn't thought of that, but that's another question or me to ask, then." The gleam in Alya's eye grew. " _And_ I've been trying to figure out if they're in a relationship, because it's _really_ hard to tell."

"I'd say no, just because I think they're both smart enough to not jump into a relationship," Nino said, frowning. He could tell that Adrien and Marinette were close, but they hadn't seemed _kissy_ or anything. Cuddly, yes, but Adrien liked hugs and Marinette liked giving hugs, so that fit. "Not when Adrien is still adjusting to his dad not being there. They're probably heading there, but not quite there yet."

"I just want to know if they've discussed it, though." Alya glanced towards the bakery, then leaned forward, pointing. " _There!_ See, Adrien and Marinette are coming out together, and no sign of the Gorilla or Nathalie having brought him there!"

Nino looked. Sure enough, Adrien and Marinette were exiting the bakery side-by-side, talking quietly as they hurried over to the school. Adrien was grinning, clearly in a great mood.

Which, well, Nino didn't _want_ his friend to be depressed or anything, but if _his_ father had been arrested, Nino would probably be a bit more upset about it.

"I don't know where he's sleeping, but Adrien is _definitely_ staying over at Marinette's house," Alya decided, hopping off of the ledge. "I'm not going to badger _him_ , of course, but Marinette is free game."

Nino just groaned and followed her.

"So is the Gorilla on vacation?" Alya asked as they approached the duo. They both looked startled by her sudden appearance. "I don't see him around."

"Yeah, yeah," Marinette said, clearly doing her best to not look guilty. Which was _very_ interesting. "So have you guys started on your Lit paper yet? I just tried last night and I didn't get very far. I think I need to change my thesis."

Well, that was a dodge if Nino had ever seen one. He and Alya exchanged a look as they fell into line on either side of their friends and headed inside. Alya started talking about her own paper- with no akumas to cover, she had suddenly found herself with a fair amount of free time- while Nino watched Adrien and Marinette.

He still didn't think that they were dating, but they were definitely _really_ close. Like, best-friends-for-years close, which didn't make sense considering that Marinette had only been able to talk to Adrien normally starting more recently, only a month or two at most, and she and Adrien hadn't started talking a lot until a few weeks prior. Maybe they were made for each other, like Alya always said, but even people that were made for each other had to actually, like, talk about things and do stuff together and everything. Even if people immediately felt comfortable with each other, there was a _difference_.

It was _weird_. It seemed like a lot of things about Adrien and Marinette were weird lately. There was a lot of stuff that just didn't quite make _sense_ , details that didn't add up and things that they did that weren't _quite_ right. Nino didn't want to push _too_ much- not now, not when it wasn't critical- but it was really, really odd.

Nino could hear a lot of whispering going on behind him as they settled into their seats in class. Alya was clearly trying to get information out of Marinette and although Marinette was a frankly alarming shade of red, it didn't look like she was budging.

Maybe he or Alya would have to drop in on the Dupain-Chengs some evening to bust the two of them.

Without akuma attacks interrupting the day, the teachers had decided to plow full steam ahead on the curriculum, trying to make up for lost ground. It meant that there wasn't a lot of time left for wondering about what was going on with Adrien and Marinette, especially since Nino had to actually _listen_ to keep up with what was going on.

Exams were going to be _awful_ this year, with everything crammed in on such a condensed schedule. The other option was to extend the school year into the summer, though, so Nino wasn't going to complain _too_ much about the teachers deciding to just speed things up and only add on a _little_ extra time.

He'd still complain a little bit, though. Just a little.

* * *

The weirdness had continued for a full _month_. Alya was nearly ready to start whacking her best friend over the head with the nearest only semi-hard thing she could grab, but it would probably be hard to hit Marinette without accidentally hitting Adrien as well. The two of them seemed even _closer,_ as impossible as that seemed.

Alya was 90% positive that they were dating or at least nearly there, but the maybe-couple would neither confirm nor deny and there was never a good time to properly pester them about it.

"Do you want to come over after school?" Marinette asked Alya and Nino one day, partway through the day as they waited for their next class to start. "Adrien doesn't have anything after school, and the police are all done talking to him."

"I still can't believe that they pestered you at _all_ , man," Nino told Adrien. "Like, are they _serious?_ But at least they cleared you."

"It- it wasn't about the Hawkmoth thing, not after the first day," Adrien admitted, looking small. "They wanted to know how my father had been treating me after my mom vanished, and all these different details. It was really obvious they were trying to see if there was any- any abuse." He worried his lip, just a little, and it was clear that he wasn't entirely comfortable with talking about it. "So it wasn't the _police_ talking to me, really, just these therapist people."

Alya glanced over at Nino, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Adrien didn't look comfortable with sharing, not entirely, and, well, she and Nino had talked about if Mr. Agreste was abusing Adrien, back before he got exposed and arrested as Hawkmoth. They had never known how to bring it up to Adrien, mostly because Adrien _had_ still loved his father.

It was really hard to tell if that was still the case now. Adrien liked avoiding that particular topic.

"But anyway, coming over," Marinette said, breaking the tension. "Are you free after school?"

"Yeah," Nino said immediately, while Alya pulled out her phone to check her schedule. If she could spare the time, then _obviously_ she would go over. It seemed like this might be the opportunity she was waiting for, where she could pester their friends about what was going on with them without risking other people overhearing.

And it looked like she was lucky, with her older sister finishing classes early enough to come back and keep an eye on the twins until their parents came home.

"I can come, too," Alya announced, checking one last time before putting her phone away. "Nora is babysitting today, so I'm free."

Marinette grinned, though the look that she and Adrien exchanged was a little nervous. It piqued Alya's interest immediately. "Great!"

"So I happened to notice that that question was just aimed at Nino and I," Alya spoke up, trying to make the mood light again. "Is Adrien not invited, or is he just a given, or...?"

"Don't think that I don't notice what you're doing," Marinette told Alya, her cheeks pink. "And the invitation was from _both_ Adrien and I, because we were talking about it earlier."

"So is this just a social visit, or is something going on?" Nino inquired, echoing Alya's thoughts. "Because you two look _mighty_ serious right now."

Adrien made a face at his friend. "Uh, who says _social visit_ anymore? You can't just say _,_ like, literally _anything_ else?"

"Okay, then, is this just to hang or-"

"All right, all right, I'm here!" Miss Bustier burst into the room, looking a little hassled. "Sorry that I'm late, everyone. The copy machine in the staff room was acting up. Today, we have a worksheet to go along with our latest reading, so I'll pass that around- thank you, Adrien- and I want you to work independently on the worksheet and then break up into groups to compare answers. And I'm going to assign the groups," she added, much to the disappointment of most of the room. "So that you can work with people that you don't normally team up with. Any questions before we start?"

Alya sat back in her seat, disappointed. She had hoped to get an answer out of Adrien and Marinette, but it sounded like she would just have to wait. Even passing notes wouldn't work, because Marinette could just ignore them.

 _Ugh_.

The rest of the day crept by at a snail's pace. Alya was practically dying of impatience by the time the final bell rand and they all headed towards the lockers to gather up their things. Adrien and Marinette hung back with their heads together briefly, then led the way out of the locker room towards the bakery.

This did _not_ feel like just a typical hang-out. Did Adrien have more bad news to share with them before it hit the main news? Hadn't he had enough trouble in his life already?

Suddenly Alya was dreading their get-together. She wanted to be there for Adrien, of course, but it was always _so_ hard to know what to say in response. Like, everything she could think of sounded too _generic_ and not personal enough, considering that they were friends.

They passed the counter, waving to one of the bakery workers that Alya recognized as Mrs. Cheng's occasional substitute for when she stepped away from the counter, and then headed up the stairs. Alya realized with a small jolt of surprise that it had been _ages_ since she last went to Marinette's house. There had been a visit or two right after Mr. Agreste's arrest, to hang out with Adrien, but she and Nino had been letting Adrien have his space since then.

Maybe they shouldn't have been doing that? Alya didn't know. Her parents sometimes talked about Adrien and his father's arrest, but they always stopped whenever she got within hearing distance.

"Hi, you guys!" Mrs. Cheng called as they entered. She beamed at Nino and Alya. "Nino! Alya! I haven't seen you in too long!"

"School's gotten crazy," Nino told her, following Adrien and Marinette towards the couches. "The teachers are trying to get us all caught up on stuff, since we fell behind with the interruptions this year."

"I wish they had rolled some of the stuff over to next year, but I suppose it would be hard for anyone who is switching schools or anything," Alya chimed in. Her sisters- both older and younger- didn't have the same problems, since they hadn't been _quite_ as much in the epicenter of all of the attacks (and besides, it wasn't as though Ella and Etta were really _learning_ all that much at school, at their age). "All of the fun projects have been taken out, because we just don't have the time for them. And the end-of-year picnic, and our last field trip, and our study period before exams is getting shortened."

"I hope I can have a normal school year next year," Adrien said with a sigh. "This year has just been..."

"Insane?" Nino suggested. "Really weird?"

"Yeah, that."

Alya rounded the end of the couches, and her eyes widened as she spotted the black and red boxes sitting out in the middle of the cleared coffee table between the couches. She _recognized_ those boxes- or, well, she recognized the pattern, at least. It was impossible to tell if either of those specific boxes was the one that she had gotten Trixx in.

But she _knew_ them, and she knew what they meant, and she had absolutely no idea what they were doing _here_ , in Marinette's family's living room.

Confused, Alya sat down next to Nino on the couch. He had given the boxes a glance before getting distracted by the pain au chocolat on a plate next to them, so clearly he had never seen them before- which wasn't surprising, since she had known where he was whenever other superheroes had been seen.

Alya couldn't pull her eyes away from the boxes, even as Marinette passed around the plate of pastries. Was Trixx in one of them? Would she get to see the kwami again? It would be _great_ if she could. Even if there was no superhero to fight anymore, she had thought that running over the rooftops was the coolest thing _ever_.

She could feel her heart beating harder, faster. To feel that rush of power again would be _amazing_ \- and she was getting ahead of herself.

After all, the box could just be a common Chinese pattern that didn't mean anything, because why would Marinette's family be handing out Miraculous? That was just a reach. Maybe she and Nino were just getting gifts.

But if so, why put them in identical boxes instead of gift-wrapping them or putting them in bags or something? _Something_ was going on, her reporter senses were sure of it.

"So, not that I don't appreciate the pastries or anything, but what is going on?" Nino asked as soon as he had polished off the last buttery bits of his pain au chocolat. "Are you going to explain, or are we going to have to play a guessing game, or...?"

"It might be easier to just dive right in," Marinette admitted. She nodded towards the boxes. "Alya, the one on your left. Nino, the one on the right."

Alya eagerly reached forward, grabbing her box. She tried to tamp down the excitement in her stomach- she had to remember that it _could_ just be a normal gift, and she didn't want to look disappointed if it was- before opening the box.

The flash of orange and the orange bubble that immediately appeared left no question as to what the box held. As soon as the light cleared, Alya reached into the box and eagerly pulled out the necklace, ignoring the flash of blue and the shout of surprise from Nino as he frantically tried to scramble away from the light and the blue kwami that was floating in front of Nino. She fastened it around her neck, grinning up at Trixx. The kwami returned her grin and then dove into Alya's hair, burrowing through it just for fun.

"What _is_ that thing?" Nino exclaimed, clinging to the back of the couch. "What is going _on?"_

"I'm Duusu!" the blue kwami exclaimed, zipping over to hover in front of Nino. "And I'm the peacock kwami!"

"The who what what what _what?_ "

Alya grinned as she watched Nino warily listen to Duusu try to explain what was going on. It didn't take long for Nino to calm down, though, mostly because Duusu mentioned that he had the ability to transform Nino to be like Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Okay, so why do you guys have these?" Alya asked while Nino warily pinned the Peacock brooch to his shirt. "Not that I'm not _thrilled_ to see Trixx again, but..."

Trixx popped out of her hair with a giggle. "What do you think?"

"I think I'm confused and want answers is what I think."

Mrs. Cheng laughed from where she was putting dishes away in the kitchen. "Straightforward as always, Alya."

"Yeah, well-" Alya cut herself off when she looked up and spotted a purple kwami peering at them from around Mrs. Cheng's hair. She made a strangled noise and pointed. "Uuh?"

Sabine laughed. "Yes, Alya?"

"B-but I thought-"

"Nooroo was rescued and rehomed," Marinette spoke up, and Alya's gaze flashed over to her friend, who had a red kwami perched on her head. Next to her, a black, catlike kwami floated next to Adrien.

Alya's brain shorted out.

"That- that's _five_ kwami!" she exclaimed, sitting up straight as a rod. "I- _what?_ And I know there's at least one more, with the report of a Turtle- what is going _on?_ I thought that Hawkmoth was defeated, so why are you getting more superheroes now?"

"Hang _on_ ," Nino finally spoke up, his gaze darting around. "You already knew about these- these-"

"Kwamis," Duusu helpfully supplied. Nino pointed at him.

"Yeah! What he said!"

"I was Rena Rouge for a couple fights," Alya told him, keeping a wary eye on their friends. "But I always had to return the Miraculous."

"Oh, I wondered why you never had footage of those fights!"

"But back to the point," Alya pressed, turning her gaze back to the Dupain-Chengs and Adrien. "Why are you guys- and I will _end_ you for being Ladybug and not telling me, _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ \- recruiting more superheroes now? The threat is gone- unless there's another one coming up?"

"No threat," Marinette confirmed. "But we _do_ need all of the main Miraculous active for something. And I like how Adrien gets a free pass," she added. "Why are you going to go after me for not telling you and not Adrien?"

"Because his father was Hawkmoth, which I think deserves at least _one_ free pass. And don't think I don't see you avoiding the point."

"I wasn't avoiding it, just pointing out an inconsistency," Marinette complained. Then she grew more serious. "We need all seven of the main Miraculous for a spell. We discovered that Adrien's mom was trapped by a booby trap at an old temple in Tibet, and the spell would be to free her. We were hoping that you would be willing and able to help."

Alya and Nino gasped in unison, looking over at Adrien.

"They found your mom? _Dude!_ " Nino exclaimed. "That's great! Wait- _Tibet?"_ he added, looking suddenly dubious. "Uh, isn't that in China? Ages away?"

"An adventure!" Alya exclaimed, promptly excited again. "That's great!" She was already envisioning it. Seven of them- who would the last two people be?- hiking over a faded trail in the middle of nowhere, traversing across the landscape in a rainbow of superpowered colors. They would go over a rise and there it would be, an abandoned temple. It was a rescue mission and a quest all in one, and Alya already couldn't wait.

"We would go once school lets out," Mrs. Cheng was assuring Nino. "We would come up with an appropriate cover story, of course, because I can understand your parents being wary about you traveling abroad. And I can propose the idea to them to start."

Alya almost didn't hear it. Her mind was already in Tibet. Would there be other quests that they would complete along the way? Would they meet other Miraculous holders? What kinds of wildlife were there? What kind of temple had a booby trap, and would they be safe from getting caught themselves?

"You'll get more information later, if you can stay for dinner," Mrs. Cheng told them, and Alya forced herself to focus. She didn't want to miss _any_ information. "The Turtle is coming over to talk about the trip, and-"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot that you had already picked a Turtle," Alya blurted, unable to contain herself. "Who? Do I know them?"

Marinette- _Ladybug_ , the imp, but at least she had picked Alya to be a bonus superhero- laughed. "It's the other way around, actually. The _actual_ Turtle, not the one you saw that one time. That was a substitute, since the real one, well..."

Adrien was grinning, too. "You'll see. Marinette's dad was a _much_ better choice for the faceoff. More intimidating."

Alya was spluttering. "Your _dad_ , too? Next you're gonna tell me that your grandma stood in for you for one fight or something."

"No, but I bet she'd be _boss_ at it."

Alya had opened her mouth to object- as cool as Marinette's grandma was, she would _hardly_ make a suitable temporary Ladybug- before she spotted the teasing glint in her friend's eye and the smirk on her face. Marinette had apparently decided to break the heavy mood by joking around. Alya would have gotten exasperated by the clear distraction from the topic, but Adrien was snickering and even Nino looked amused.

 _Fine._ As long as her parents were fine with her staying for dinner- and they _should_ be, she had before- then there would be time to get more information about the trip that Alya was now _desperate_ to go on. She would probably have to promise Nora that she would do a _ton_ of babysitting for the parts of the summer when she wasn't gone and then do more than her normal half once school started again, just to make up for Nora having to do a large chunk of the summer.

That would stink, but at least Ella and Etta were generally happy to hang out at the pool, or at the nice, air-conditioned children's museum in the city. As long as Nora didn't rely _too_ heavily on those, Alya could probably spend practically all of her babysitting time with them there when she got back.

"How soon is the Turtle going to get here?" Alya wanted to know as Nino and Adrien started up another conversation, joking around as Marinette listened on. "Soon?"

Mrs. Cheng laughed. "It'll be a couple hours yet. He's busy and it's nowhere close to dinner yet. I _do_ have some fruit out, though," she added, and Alya was confused for a minute until Trixx let out a cheer and darted out from inside of her hair to make a beeline for the bowl of cut fruit that Mrs. Cheng was uncovering on the counter. "I even got some dragonfruit, since you liked it so much last time."

" _Last time?_ "

"I borrowed the Fox Miraculous for the faceoff with Hawkmoth," Mrs. Cheng told her, and Alya's jaw dropped to the floor. "So that Ladybug and Chat Noir could sneak up behind him without him suspecting anything. So I got to hang out with Trixx for the week or so leading up to the battle, so that I could get used to the powers."

Alya had to admit that she felt a little jealous. She hadn't really gotten to hang out with Trixx ever. They had just had brief conversations before and after she transformed if they had the time, which normally wasn't much. Mrs. Cheng had gotten more time with the kwami, and had probably gotten in more practice with using the illusions, too.

Well, she would get to keep Trixx this time, right? She would get to hang out with him and _apparently_ have to keep the purchase of lots of fruit secret from the rest of her family, if the way Trixx was going after the bowl of fruit was any indication.

Good-bye, allowance. It had been nice having it.

After Mrs. Cheng had gone back downstairs, Alya sat back and watched her three friends laughing about something. Now that she had had the opportunity to sit back and actually process the absolute tidal wave of information that had been flung at her, she could figure out how she felt about two of her best friends being the superheroes of Paris and not telling her a thing.

Part of her wanted to be betrayed. Like, they _knew_ that she was obsessed with the superheroes, so why hadn't they said anything? But Marinette _had_ tapped her for a temporary superhero and Alya hadn't said anything about being Rena Rouge to Marinette (because Ladybug had told her not to tell _anyone_ ) _and_ Alya knew from her comic books that secrecy was key to being a superhero, so she really couldn't fault them.

(She _was_ a bit smug about having guessed Adrien was Chat Noir, but she had never been _that_ serious about her theory. It had kind of been her "if-anyone-in-this-class-was-a-superhero" guess, not actually a serious theory.

But she had been _right_. That sort of took away the sting of never even _suspecting_ her best friend as being Ladybug.)

"So does Nathalie _always_ let you eat over here?" Nino was asking Adrien when Alya had finished puzzling over how she could have _possibly_ missed figuring Marinette out. She had had to conclude that magic was probably at fault, and the only reason it hadn't blocked her Adrien-is-Chat-Noir theory was because she was never really _serious_ about it. "Or do you, like, have to text her every day to ask?"

A bit of pink appeared on Adrien's cheeks. "She knows I eat over here unless I tell her otherwise. Then she sends over groceries to help pay for everything I eat."

"Groceries and clothes and money," Plagg chimed in, grinning deviously. Alya perked up, grinning over at Adrien's kwami. She was suddenly getting the feeling that she was going to get along very, _very_ well with the cat kwami.

"So you _are_ living here?" Alya spoke up, expression and tone turning devious. "Should I even ask where you're sleeping?"

She had the pleasure of seeing both Adrien and Marinette light up like Christmas lights. That blush told her _everything_ that she needed to know.

Adrien was _definitely_ staying in Marinette's room. They probably only got away with that because the kwamis were there to supervise them all the time. He wasn't sure how Nathalie approved the sleepovers, unless she assumed that the Dupain-Chengs had a guest room that Adrien was staying in.

"I _do_ go back to the mansion!" Adrien protested. "Occasionally. When I have to be somewhere early the next day. But Nathalie is busy enough with the transition over there to deal with keeping track of me all the time. And I like being over here better. It's not as cold."

"Dude, you're going to have to go back sometime," Nino pointed out. "Otherwise the reporters are going to pick up on where you're staying and it'll be a huge story."

"We have an eye out for any stories that they're putting out," Marinette assured him. "So that we can keep them from suspecting _too_ much. And if we really need to, Adrien can just go back to the mansion as Chat Noir and be seen leaving in the morning."

"Right, I forgot that that was something you could do. That's so cool! You can go out after curfew whenever you want!" Nino exclaimed.

Duusu looked over at them from where he was sharing some of Trixx's fruit. "The Miraculous are to be used _responsibly_. And I've heard about how your studies have gotten sped up. You have to _focus_ on your schoolwork. No sneaking out until summer at the _earliest_."

"Yeah, sneaking out is overrated," Marinette chimed in. "It's a lot of staying up far too late and then regretting it the next day. And I know you do enough of that yourself without even leaving your room, Nino."

They all laughed at Nino's downfallen expression. "Just once, then! Just to try it out!"

Duusu frowned. "Only once exams are over. Or on a Friday."

"Don't mind him _too_ much," Trixx piped up. "He likes to play the responsible one at first and then he really loosens up."

Duusu gaped at her, appalled. "Trixx! Why did you tell him?"

"Ah, you gotta let your Chosens learn things on their own. It makes for more interesting stories later on." Trixx grinned at Alya, tiny fangs flashing. "And I'm sure that Ladybug and Chat Noir would agree."

"Oh, I'm _sure_." Alya turned her attention back to Adrien and Marinette, who were grinning as they watched the kwamis squabble. "But speaking of _stories_...Nino, wouldn't you say that these two probably have _plenty_ of stories to entertain us with?"

"Oh yeah," Nino agreed. He turned to face their friends, crossing his arms as he did. "Start talking, you two. You've got a _lot_ of explaining to do."

* * *

 _A/N: So this is the first chapter of the There's No Camembert in Tibet Outtakes! I have several more planned- Chloe getting her Miraculous, Adrinette getting together, and a compilation of all of Plagg's songs, plus a couple others post-trip for a total of (I think?) seven chapters. Unlike the PatBC Outtakes, these don't take place during TNCIT, but instead before/after._

 _As always, reviews make my day! :)_


	2. Chloe: Redemption

It was Saturday afternoon when Chloe's world was shaken nearly to its core, for the second time in only a year.

Adrien's father had been arrested. The police weren't telling anyone anything. Reporters were swarming the mansion and the police station, but Nathalie wasn't letting anyone in and Officer Raincomprix wasn't answering any questions, simply saying that an investigation was underway. Even Chloe's dad couldn't get any answers.

Chloe was left to pace in her room, phone in her hand. She had texted Adrien, telling him to come over and stay at the Grand Paris and tell her what was going on. Her texts had been sent, but not read. Not yet.

They couldn't _possibly_ be interrogating Adrien, could they? They wouldn't. Adrien wouldn't do _anything_ wrong.

The news that Adrien's mom was missing had publicly broken on a Saturday afternoon, too, only hours after Adrien had found out.

After two hours, Chloe grew tired of her pacing and stormed downstairs, demanding that her chauffeur bring her over. She was an old friend of the family. Nathalie _had_ to let her in.

Except Nathalie didn't let her in. Only police were allowed at the moment, and they weren't budging on that rule. Chloe went back to the hotel in a huff, trying to figure out how she could get _any_ news at all if Adrien wasn't responding and no one else would tell her anything. She texted Nino and Alya, just in case they had heard anything.

They hadn't, which didn't surprise Chloe one bit. _Obviously_ Adrien would going to her first, since she was his best and oldest friend. And if he hadn't come to _her_ , then _obviously_ Nino and Alya wouldn't have heard from him either.

Well, maybe she had no idea about what was going on, but Chloe wasn't going to give up that easily. Even if she was going in blind, she could press her father to help. So she went right back downstairs and had her chauffeur driver her over to City Hall, where her father was working overtime.

"Daddy," Chloe started, breezing into his office. "Can you-"

"Chloe, I told you that I don't know anything about Mr. Agreste," Mr. Bourgeois told her with a sigh, setting his phone aside. "All that I've learned is that it wasn't an arrest-and-release and that the superheroes were somehow involved."

Chloe perked up at that. Well, that was more information than most of the city had, surely? But it wasn't what she had come for. "I wasn't coming to ask anything, Daddy. But I went over to Adrien's house and there are reporters crowding the gates, and if Adrien comes out at all then he's going to be harassed."

Her dad sighed. "Yes, well, that's the nature of the press, dear. They want a story."

Chloe stomped her foot. "But you're the _mayor!_ You can do something about it! Make it illegal for them to bother him! Adrien is going to be so upset about his father being arrested and then he's going to have to deal with idiots shoving microphones in his face and asking him stupid questions and it's going to stress him out _so_ much-" Chloe had become talented when she was younger at turning on the waterworks when she wanted to get something and right now, even if she didn't want anything for _herself,_ she wanted to help Adrien. His father had kept the reporters at a distance following Mrs. Agreste's disappearance by closing the gates and keeping Adrien inside for several months, exiting only for closed fencing practices and indoor photoshoots in the _Gabriel_ building, until the reporters had backed off. But now Adrien was going to school and liked going out with Nino and Alya and Marinette (and with Chloe, of course, but _she_ got driven around while the others walked- fewer opportunities for reporters to bother him). He would appreciate his oldest, bestest friend _so_ much if she could do this one itsy-bitsy thing for him. "-can't you do _a-a-anything?_ "

"Oh, no, darling, I'll look into it at once," Mr. Bourgeois assured Chloe quickly, passing her the entire box of tissues on his desk and patting her shoulder. "I know this must be upsetting for you, since you're so close to the Agreste family. And it's so thoughtful of you to think of Adrien. I'll have my secretary look into existing laws, to see if there's anything we can use and enforce there, and if there isn't, then I'll get started on writing something up."

Chloe sniffled and nodded. It wouldn't make any sense to continue crying now that she had gotten her father to agree to help. It would mess up her makeup, and Chloe simply _couldn't_ be seen out with smudged makeup. Thankfully she had thought ahead and brought her emergency makeup case, so that she could do touch-ups in the bathroom before stepping outside again.

"And c-can we have Adrien stay at the Grand Paris?" Chloe asked, struck by another thought. It would be _lovely_ if Adrien could stay over, and they could do sleepovers and hang out like they used to, before Adrien went to school and got all sorts of _other_ friends. She slipped her pouty face back on. "He doesn't have _anyone_ at home now, with both of his parents gone. He'll be all _alone_ -"

"He'll have Nathalie," her father interrupted, cutting Chloe off. "The police have already said that. She's clear so far- but I will _ask_ ," he added when Chloe started to wobble her lower lip. "I'm just saying, he _does_ have a guardian to look after him."

Chloe resisted the urge to scowl. Stupid _Nathalie_. First she didn't let Chloe- _Chloe_ , Adrien's oldest friend- in to see him- and now she was probably going to deny Chloe's _completely_ reasonable request.

 _Ugh_.

"I have to go back to work, darling, but I'll look into both things that you asked me about," Chloe's father told her, giving her a little hug. "And I'll even let you know right away if I learn anything more about the arrest, okay?"

Chloe sighed. That was probably about as good as she was going to get. "I _suppose_."

"There's my good girl."

As soon as Chloe got back to her room, she got set up. One laptop had a news feed on the screen, updating every minute, and the other had a Twitter feed tracking Gabriel Agreste's name. Chloe confirmed that Ladybug and Chat Noir- _and_ a new superhero- had been spotted doing the arrest while the police hung back until escorted in. There was even talk of weapons coming out of the Agrestes' roof, and speculation about whether they were actually even _legal_.

This was just sounding worse and worse, and also more and more confusing. What were Ladybug and Chat Noir doing there? It was so weird. The superheroes had been out and about with a super-long akuma battle only an hour prior to the arrest, so it wasn't as thought they were at a loss of what to do with their time or anything.

The only news that her father brought back was that Officer Raincomprix had been the one to break the news to Adrien, and he had said that Adrien had taken it well enough. Chloe sniffed at that, announcing that Officer Raincomprix had the emotional sensitivity of a rock. Combine that with Adrien's acting training, and Adrien could have been seconds away from sobbing and Officer Raincomprix wouldn't have noticed anything out of place.

It was a full day before the next big bit of information dropped: Mr. Agreste had been Hawkmoth. There would be no more akumas.

Well, that explained the presence of Ladybug and Chat Noir. But how had Mr. Agreste- rule-following, stick-up-his-rear Mr. Agreste- even gotten his hands on a Miraculous?

"Paris should have a celebration!" Mr. Bourgeois announced as he and Chloe sat in the restaurant to eat dinner, sat away from their guests in a corner booth. "A party, to celebrate Hawkmoth's downfall and our superheroes' work! We could have a parade, and fireworks, and maybe a concert or-"

"But _daddy!_ " Chloe objected. "Think of how that would make _Adrien_ feel! Everyone celebrating his father being in jail, when he's all alone now! He already feels bad enough!" He hadn't _told_ her that, of course- her messages had _still_ gone unread- but his silence told her enough. "Maybe we can put it off, at least for a little bit? We could do a big one-year anniversary party, since we'll have more time to prepare! And time to budget," Chloe added, since that was something that she had heard one of her father's workers say once and it seemed to have an impact. "We can budget and prepare for a _huge_ blowout, and get celebrities to come and perform instead of just having to scramble for whoever is free."

Not that she wouldn't _like_ a party. Chloe _loved_ parties, and loved the excuse to shop for them. But she just couldn't stand the thought of Adrien stuck indoors to hide from reporters, watching fireworks go off as the city celebrated his father's arrest.

The jovial expression on Mr. Bourgeois' face fell promptly. "Oh. Oh, yes. I didn't consider that. I, ah, Hm." He gave the problem a few seconds' thought. "Well, we can delay the celebrations for some time- a month? There's no way to completely ignore it for a year, sweetie," he added when Chloe's expression turned stormy. "The public will _demand_ it. Perhaps we can pay for Adrien to be on vacation out of town for the weekend so that he doesn't have to see it. Adrien, Nathalie, and his bodyguard, so that he has adults with him."

"Who _cares_ what the public thinks?"

"Darling, be reasonable," Mr. Bourgeois begged. "The public is what keeps me in office. They'll want to celebrate the end of the akumas and they'll want to thank Ladybug and Chat Noir. It'll be public suicide to _not_ do anything. If we give Adrien the opportunity to be out of town, that's a good compromise, right?"

"We should ask Adrien first," Chloe decided after a minute's thought. "And you're _not_ allowed to pressure him into it. And not right away."

Much to the surprise of, well, _everyone_ , Adrien was at school Monday. And much to Chloe's surprise and annoyance, he seemed to be attached to Marinette. He never left her side- or maybe she never left his, it was hard to tell. Chloe had to admit that maybe, _maybe_ Officer Raincomprix had been right for once. Adrien didn't seem like a person who had only _just_ learned that his father was a supervillain. It was more like it was old news and it was just the arrest that was hard on him.

Well. Chloe supposed that Gabriel Agreste turning into Worst Dad of the Year would probably help decrease any feelings of betrayal. He had been more like Adrien's keeper than his father over the past year, and he hadn't exactly been a shining example for fathers everywhere even before Mrs. Agreste vanished, rejecting Chloe's offers to throw Adrien a birthday party and not letting Adrien come over like he used to.

Still, Chloe had rather thought that Adrien still cared about his father despite everything. Somewhere along the way, without her noticing, that had apparently changed.

 _And_ Adrien had apparently developed a crush on Marinette somewhere along the way. That was annoying- she had always thought that she and Adrien would end up together, because they would be a picture-perfect couple, blond and gorgeous and famous and from wealthy families- but Chloe wasn't going to make a big deal about it now, not with Adrien's father's arrest so recent.

Besides, collège relationships didn't tend to last, right? Even if they got together, they might stay together for a few months or a year before breaking up. _Especially_ if they got together now- well, relationships that started as a crutch to deal with stuff like a death or family member's arrest weren't that healthy, right?

Not that she _hoped_ that Adrien and Marinette would fall apart in a blaze of fire- that wouldn't be good for Adrien- but a few months of stable relationship followed by maybe a mutual break-up would work.

Chloe barely got to talk to Adrien during the day, since he had surrounded himself with Alya, Nino, and Marinette, so she contented herself with keeping students from other classes who only wanted to pester Adrien away, snapping at them and warning them to keep their noses to themselves.

"And if you have an issue with that, find another school to go to!" Chloe spat after one particularly rude idiot from the next class down. "Good riddance!"

"Ooh, do I need to knock someone's teeth out?" Alix asked, appearing at Chloe's side. She was practically bouncing in place. "Another person who for some reason thinks that Adrien is responsible for his stupid-head father?"

Chloe blinked, not really used to others actually backing her up. Well, besides Sabrina, but she didn't really count, did she? Sabrina's _job_ was to back Chloe up all the time. "If he comes back, sure."

Alix's grin was fierce. " _Fantastic_."

"Just warn me if you're going to get into any fights," Chloe sniffed, brushing a bit of invisible lint off of the shoulder of her jacket. Fights meant flying fists and feet and torn clothing and blood, and she wasn't interested in being near _any_ of that. It was uncultured and could get her clothes dirty or worse, torn and stained. "I want plenty of time to get away."

There was a police presence in front of the school when classes let out for the day. Chloe was annoyed at first- their patrol cars were in _her_ driver's normal spot- but then she realized that they were keeping the newspeople away. The reporters had apparently realized that they wouldn't get more than a glimpse of Adrien, so they had cleared off completely.

Well, Chloe _supposed_ that that made up for her having to walk a block to get to her chauffeur and her car.

"I found a law to help Adrien, sweetheart," Chloe's father told her as soon as she stepped foot in the hospital. "It prohibits the targeting of minors for an investigation! And I sent the police to the school so that Adrien could get to his car safely. Did he?"

Chloe didn't know. Why would her father think that she would know what Adrien had or hadn't done? He had been hanging back inside the school the last she saw, and she wasn't exactly going to hang around forever and wait for him, not when it was nippy and uncomfortable outside.

The press is getting impatient with the lack of a story behind Hawkmoth's defeat," Mr. Bourgeois commented after Chloe had simply shrugged in response to his question. "They expected a flashy final battle and got a quiet arrest instead. They want to know about the presence of a third superhero, how they found out about Hawkmoth's identity. But the police haven't said a thing, and the superheroes haven't been spotted."

"They shouldn't _pester_ Ladybug and Chat Noir," Chloe said immediately. Ladybug was her _other_ best friend besides Adrien, and Ladybug _so_ hated to be pestered by annoying, nosy reporters. "Can't you keep them from doing that? They-" she scrambled for a reason. Ladybug would _love_ her if she could get the reporters to go away, and maybe she would even agree to a few selfies. As practiced as Chloe was at making up excuses, it didn't take her long to remember the conversation that she and her father had only just had the previous night. "You said that we need to appreciate Ladybug and Chat Noir, right? What better way to appreciate them by _not_ harassing them for answers whenever they make a public appearance?"

"Oh, that's very smart, darling." Her father was nodding as he mulled it over. "They _have_ been working very hard, you're right. If they're out, it might just be to unwind- but the city wants answers, so perhaps, ah- oh! If we can get them to agree to promise to give an interview in the future- the _near_ future, but after they've had some time to rest up- I think we can make up an agreement to have the reporters not approach them."

Chloe cheered. Oh, Ladybug would lover her _so_ much. Hopefully her dad would tell the superheroes that the idea was Chloe's.

The next couple weeks went by in a flash. The superheroes did indeed drop in to thank Chloe for her role in getting the reporters to back off (she preened when they leaned in for a selfie without even having to be asked) and then filmed themselves answering some of the questions that Paris had about their discovery of Hawkmoth's identity and his defeat rather than doing an in-person interview. It got submitted to the Ladyblog and the largest news station in the city, and then the superheroes stepped back out of the city's spotlight, clearly taking a few weeks off.

Chloe didn't fully understand that, really. Why would people _not_ want to be in the spotlight, famous and adored by the public? Chloe certainly didn't shy away from the cameras.

Much to the surprise of- well, of _everyone_ \- Adrien didn't object to a celebration of his father's defeat, and he didn't take Mr. Bourgeois' offer to go out of town for the celebrations. He didn't go out and watch the parade or the fireworks, but that was to be expected.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had been out and about during the celebrations, though, shaking hands with people and posing for photos. It seemed that they were willing to do the publicity stuff when it was all contained to one time, rather than whenever they were spotted out and about.

And then one day, Chloe came home to find both Ladybug and Chat Noir perched on her balcony, Ladybug holding a small black in one hand as they talked. Chloe had blinked, puzzled, and gone out to talk to them

It turned out that they wanted her to be a superhero. A _bee_ , of all things.

"But _why?"_ Chloe wanted to know as she stared at the floating bee-thing in front of her. "I- I can't _fight!_ What if I break a nail or something? And what would I fight? It- it has to be _scary_ if you're trying to get more people, and-"

"No fighting," Chat Noir promised, a small smile playing at the edges of his lips. "We have a- a _quest_ , of sorts, that needs more than just the two of us."

Chloe squinted at him. A _quest_ sounded like hard work. And while she liked the idea of being a famous, popular superhero, she didn't want to have to _work_. "A _quest?_ No, thanks. That sounds like I would have to get my hands dirty."

"It's a rescue mission," Ladybug tempted, and Chloe very nearly rolled her eyes. A _rescue_ mission? That sounded like even _more_ work. "We found out that Mrs. Agreste was trapped in a magic trap while exploring, and we know the spell to free her. But we need seven miraculous holders. We're at six right now."

Chloe nearly tipped over. Mrs. Agreste had been (kind of) found? She- Chloe- could have the chance to help rescue Adrien's mom? She scrambled to pull the Bee Miraculous out of the box and slide it into her hair. "Mrs. Agreste? I'm in!"

The smiles that she got at that were nearly blinding. They left with a promise that they would come back later and explain more, but she should spend some time with Pollen in the meantime.

"You live in a lovely hive," Pollen told Chloe as she zipped around the room. It was very distracting to have a bee-thing flying around while Chloe tried to study, but, well, who needed to _study_ anyway? That was what Sabrina was for. "So large! Do you have any honey around?"

"I...can order a dessert with honey in it?" Chloe offered, since that seemed like the right thing to say to what Ladybug and Chat Noir had told her was a god. "I have room service, I can just ask for my butler to bring something up."

Pollen squealed with joy. "Oh, yay! I'm _so_ hungry," she added. "I haven't been out in the world for _ages._ "

And so started a _very_ strange relationship. Chloe kept Pollen equipped with honey- and she had had to go out and buy a good amount after only a couple days, since the kitchen and Jean-Pierre were starting to wonder about her new obsession with baklava- and Pollen, well...

Pollen critiqued Chloe's behavior. It was quite annoying, really, but Chloe wasn't going to argue with a _god_. It seemed like doing such a thing would probably not be particularly good for her health.

She had seen what Ladybug and Chat Noir were capable when they were powered by a god, and she didn't exactly want to test how powerful Pollen could be by herself.

Their first argument had been only minutes after Pollen had finished her baklava. The kwami had asked her about if she had homework, and Chloe hadn't even hesitated to tell her.

"My friend Sabrina does all of my homework," Chloe said, waving an airy hand. "It would give me calluses if I did it all myself, and it's _such_ a waste of time. I can just memorize everything I need to know before an exam so that I get a good grade. Then I can go get manicures and go to the hairdresser so that I always look _fabulous_."

Pollen frowned. "And this Sabrina- what does she get out of doing your homework?"

"My friendship, duh."

"Bees do their own work," Pollen informed her. "Hives may work together to get the work done, but they do _not_ foist all of the work of on another member. Call your Sabrina over, and you two can work on your homework together. It will go faster that way."

Chloe's jaw nearly fell to the floor. "But- but _why?_ "

"Because if you don't, I'll sting you."

 _That_ got Chloe to move. She called Sabrina over and they worked on their homework. Or, rather, Sabrina came up with the answers and Chloe just copied. Once they were done and Sabrina had left, Chloe turned around to see Pollen glowering at her.

Apparently just writing down answers didn't count as contributing to the work.

As the days went on, Chloe wasn't quite sure if Pollen was meant to be her tormentor or her friend. She got bit for (apparently) being rude to the staff ("But they messed up at their job!" "There are _better_ ways to let them know that!"), was pinched when she made a comment about Kim's feet stinking up the room ("But I was right!" "It was _rude!_ "), got jabbed in the ribs whenever she tried to make Sabrina do something for her ("But- but-" " _No!_ "), and was actually stung when she tried to get someone to pull the fire alarm, just so she could get out of one particularly boring class. But at the same time, Pollen joked around with her, listening to Chloe's stories and giggling at some of the adventures that she had had. Chloe hadn't really had that before, since her parents were too busy to properly listen most of the time and Sabrina... well, Sabrina laughed on cue.

It was an odd place to stand. Normally, Chloe wouldn't stand for being pushed around. She would boss and threaten and blackmail people into submission, or refuse to listen. If anyone didn't listen, then Chloe would simply avoid them. But Pollen couldn't be bossed around- she was a _god_ \- and if she wanted to have the powers to help get Adrien's mom back, then she would have to put up with Pollen.

It turned out that it was just easier to go along with Pollen's demands than it was to try to argue. Chloe found herself swallowing comments that she would normally make about her classmates, adding begrudging _thank you'_ s when people did things for her, and even helping Sabrina with the homework. She wasn't happy about it, but it made Pollen happy.

The high-end honey that Chloe had ordered also did that, but even huge amounts of it couldn't make Pollen overlook any of what she considered "bad behavior".

And... well, Chloe had to admit, her classmates seemed friendlier when she was listening to Pollen's requirements. They were more willing to help her if she needed something now than they were before, and they invited her to group study sessions and outings, too.

Not that she _went_ , most of the time. She had better things to do- manicures and hairstyling and shopping and getting her dress for the end-of-school-year fitted and glammed up a little bit with more rhinestones (after all, sparkles and glitter were _in_ this year). And sometimes the activities just didn't sound like that much fun.

Like, Alix teaching people how to roller skate? _No thanks_. If she fell, Chloe could get grass stains on her clothes, or scrape up her hands, or _break a nail_. And she didn't really want to watch, either, because that was _boring_ and she didn't really feel like listening to Kim and Alix taunting each other.

At least Pollen seemed to be fine with her turning down invitations. _That_ was deemed polite, at least. If it hadn't been, Chloe probably would have screamed.

By the time Ladybug and Chat Noir returned one evening, Pollen's behavior was practically habit for Chloe. Any deviations from it were quickly corrected with a slap and a poke. She had said more apologies in the last week and a half than she had said in probably the previous few years.

"How are you two getting along?" Ladybug asked, twinkling blue eyes glancing between Chloe and Pollen. Chloe suddenly suspected that she had known _exactly_ what Pollen was like and how she and Chloe would get along. "Do you think that you'll be able to work together to go on the quest, or...?"

"She's learning," Pollen informed the superheroes, beaming over at them. "Being kinder to people, doing her own work, even helping others!"

"That was an accident!" Chloe protested, before realizing that that was not _quite_ the right thing to say. "I mean- uh-"

Ladybug and Chat Noir were giggling. She pouted, hoping that they wouldn't count that little slip-up against her.

"Well, we came to tell you more about our quest," Chat Noir said, a hint of laughter still in his tone. " _If_ you're still interested in doing it."

Chloe straightened. "To rescue Mrs. Agreste? Of course!" She might not normally be a _quest_ person, but she knew how much Adrien missed his mom. She could manage whatever she needed to do to get Mrs. Agreste back, no matter how hard it was.

She would just have to book herself for a _serious_ spa day once it was all over.

Ladybug and Chat Noir grinned, hopping off of the railing they were perched on and leading the way inside.

"We're glad to have you with us," Ladybug told Chloe as they went inside. "Welcome to the team. We'll get you all caught up- is this a good time?"

"Yeah!" Chloe said right away, practically bouncing. She was on a _team_ with Ladybug and Chat Noir now- how cool was _that?_ "Yes, yes, this is a good time- do you want me to call room service for some refreshments? They have this _lovely_ baklava, and all of these other treats, too."

Ladybug smiled politely at her. "That sounds lovely, Chloe."

Chloe saw the amused look that Ladybug and Chat Noir shared as she hurried to her phone to order an assortment of treats, but she didn't care. She- _Chloe_ \- was going to be a superhero and save Mrs. Agreste with Paris's famous superheroes.

Maybe she wouldn't be the kindest, or most generous, or most understanding superhero ever, but, well...

She could do it. Of that, Chloe was _positive_.

* * *

 _A/N: Chloe redemption ft. a kwami willing to slap her into shape, lol._

 _As always, reviews make my day! :)_


	3. Emilie: A New Normal

"Mom, are you ready? We're going to be late!"

"Almost, dear," Emilie called back, giving her reflection one last glance in the bedroom mirror. It was one that Gabriel's parents had given to them for their wedding, and she tapped at the frame, wondering not for the first time since she arrived home if she should just donate it and replace it with a different mirror. She had never liked it that much and, well, she had been considering having her bedroom redecorated to her tastes now that she was going to be the only one in it.

Emilie wanted to hire an interior designer and get the entire house redone, erasing Gabriel's shadow that was still hanging over it. She wanted to clean out and redo her wardrobe, rediscovering and reclaiming her own sense of style. She wanted to get started on her own fresh start, moving ahead with her life and leaving behind her time with Gabriel instead of wanting it back.

...she wanted to cling to her old things, her familiar things, and not change up the house right away. So much in her life had already change while she was in limbo and unaware of time passing, and Emilie couldn't help but want some things to stay the same, just for a little bit longer.

It was a strange feeling, being tugged between wanting to cling and wanting to change, and Emilie didn't like it.

"Mom?"

"I'm coming!" She ran a hand through her hair quickly, making sure that it looked all right before grabbing her purse and heading out of the room. She really had to get to a hairdresser and get a mani-pedi to get fully refreshed and feel more like herself again, but she simply hadn't had the time. She had been too busy settling back into life in Paris and getting caught up with what Adrien had been up to to bother with much anything else.

And she had missed _so much_. His first day at school, being there as he made new friends, and his first _crush_. She hadn't been there to watch Adrien fall in love or help him work up the courage to ask his crush out. She hadn't been there to help him pick out a first-date outfit or pick out flowers to bring to his girlfriend. She hadn't been there to help him navigate arguments with his friends, or _anything_.

At least she was back now and could be a part of things going forward. Emilie had met Adrien's girlfriend Marinette already- _such_ a sweet girl, and so talented!- and her initial concerns about an aspiring designer dating an established teen model and son of a famous designer had vanished by the end of their first conversation. Now she and Adrien were going out to spend the day with Marinette and his other friends, so she would get to know them and would know who Adrien was talking about when he told her stories about what he had done over the past year.

Adrien was practically dancing with impatience by the time Emilie got down to the door. He settled down long enough to hold the door open for her as they left, then bounded towards the gate.

Emilie had remembered leaving a quiet, polite child, one that was taught to control and hide his excitement from a young age so that he wouldn't attract negative tabloid attention. Adrien was still polite, of course, but now his enthusiasm bubbled over more often than not.

Rather than being depressed and lonely and isolated because of his father's actions and arrest, Adrien was _thriving_ after getting out from under Gabriel's thumb. It was lovely to see, and Emilie couldn't hold in the giggle as she ran after Adrien.

Even though she had only been back for a few days, Emilie could feel a difference in the house's atmosphere. It was still too large and stuffy- a requirement of Gabriel's, for when he had business company over that he wanted to impress- but there was more energy, more smiling, more _fun_. Their chef was experimenting more, rather than sticking to Gabriel's list of preferable dishes, and even Nathalie and Gerald were more relaxed as they went around their daily duties. To go along with the mood, Emilie had ditched the formal pantsuits that Gabriel had designed for her, instead favoring some far less stuffy blouses and skirts that she had found in the back of her closet.

The blouse-and-skirt combo was a _much_ better choice for a walk in the summer. It was more freeing to wear, too.

"They said that they would meet us in the park near Marinette's place," Adrien told Emilie as she caught up just outside the gate. "Which isn't far! Marinette lives right across the street from the school!"

"Françoise Dupont?" Emilie asked, trying to remember. She knew that that was where Chloe Bourgeois went, so she was familiar with the name, at least. She had heard Chloe talking about it the few times that the girl had come over for dinner in the past. She smiled when Adrien nodded. "Oh, that must be nice, to be so close to the school."

"We all love going over and visiting," Adrien said with a grin. "And Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng always give us treats, whenever they have leftovers from the bakery. Or whenever they're experimenting with a recipe and want to share. They're the best bakery in Paris."

It didn't take long for Emilie to place the name. "Oh! Oh, I _thought_ that name sounded familiar! The Dupain-Cheng bakery? I _love_ their store. I could never visit often, of course, but it was always a delight. That opera cake that you always loved so much was from there."

"Really? I don't think I've had it since." Adrien tiled his head, thoughtful, and then shrugged. "I'm guessing they might mostly make them to order, maybe? Or just make a couple to sell during the day. That seems like something that they wouldn't want leftovers of."

"I'll order one soon," Emilie promised. At the mention of the bakery, she had started craving their pastries. Their chef tried, he really did, but he excelled at cooking, not patisserie. It was an art that took a steady hand and a good deal of patience to learn how to do properly.

They crossed the street into the park, and Adrien sped up when he spotted a group of teens sitting on the ground. He called to them, and they all hopped up as one and headed over.

"This is just my closest group of friends," Adrien explained to Emilie. "Marinette, of course, and Nino and Alya. I invited Chloe, but she apparently had an appointment with a hairdresser scheduled already. We might run into some of the others later on."

"Well, I _do_ know Chloe already," Emilie said, waving as the three figures drew closer. "So you're still friends with her, then?"

Adrien shrugged. "A bit, yeah. We hadn't been hanging out as much as we used to, but she's gotten better about, uh..."

 _About not being so much of a brat?_ Emilie filled in mentally, but she didn't say it out loud. She had been increasingly concerned about Chloe and her influence on Adrien prior to her last trip to Tibet, mostly because it seemed as though Chloe had learned that all she needed to do to get her way was to throw a fit about something and her father would bend over backwards. Emilie had no idea how Chloe would be driven to change after so long, but she was willing to give Adrien's old friend the benefit of the doubt.

"Hi, Mrs.- er, Emilie," Marinette said, quickly correcting herself. Emilie grinned at her as she came in for a hug. She had told Marinette that there was no need to be at all formal with her, partly because she wanted to make a good impression with Adrien's friends and partly because she didn't think that she wanted to keep on using her married title anymore.

"Hi, Marinette!" Emilie said cheerfully, returning the hug and stepping back. "It's a lovely day, isn't it? Adrien said something about a picnic?"

"It's a perfect day," Marinette agreed. She beamed up at Adrien and rolled up on her toes to press a quick kiss to his lips. They were _so_ cute together, and Emilie was torn between glancing away to give them their privacy and watching them because young love was _adorable._ "Alya has a basket that her mom sent- she's the head chef at the Grand Paris, and she makes _incredible_ food- and then I have the bread and dessert. Nino brought a blanket."

"And Adrien brought you," the other girl- Alya, she must be- chimed in. She stuck out a hand. "I'm Alya, and _this_ is my boyfriend Nino."

Nino waved. A blanket was tucked under his other arm. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Agreste."

"Please, call me Emilie," Emilie told them quickly. "It's so nice to meet you. Adrien has been telling me all about you guys, and I've been looking forward to meeting you so much!"

"We were thrilled to hear that you had been rescued," Alya told her. She gestured at Adrien. "Adrien was absolutely over the moon when he told us."

"I thought there was some sort of emergency, since he was calling us up so late," Nino added.

"Nathalie told me that he was on a date that night," Emilie said, remembering the call that she had made home. "He must have gotten back pretty late, then, because I thought it would have been early afternoon when I called." She flashed an impish grin at her son. "That must have been a _very_ long date."

Adrien's cheeks turned pink. "It was an anniversary. We went out for lunch and stayed out until after dinner."

Emilie just had to shake her head, a smile on her face. If she was remembering right, it had been a two-month anniversary. If Adrien was doing half-day dates for his two-month anniversary, what would he do for when they got to a year, or two years? Would they start with breakfast and go until midnight?

Ah, well. It was cute, and Emilie looked forward to helping Adrien planning his and Marinette's future outings.

They headed across the park so that Marinette and Alya could pick up their picnic baskets. Adrien immediately took the basket from Marinette, peering in and letting out a squeal of excitement before pulling Marinette into a hug. "It's like you read my mind! I was just thinking about this earlier!"

For her part, Marinette only laughed and hugged Adrien back, not looking fazed at all by his behavior. Emilie had raised an eyebrow, still not used to this new Adrien's impulsive behavior and unrestrained expressions. "I thought you might like it. Maman saw you eying the display when you were in the bakery last."

Adrien spluttered as Emilie laughed. "I thought I wasn't being obvious about it!"

Alya and Nino laughed at that, too. "Dude, you're _never_ subtle about anything when it comes to you and sweets. You get heart eyes when you see anything you want to try."

"I do _not!_ " Adrien protested, turning his biggest kitten eyes to Marinette. "Do I?"

Marinette giggled, patting Adrien's shoulder. "You _do_ sort of wear your stomach on your sleeve, love."

Adrien clapped his free hand to his heart. "Betrayed, by my own girlfriend! Whatever should I do now?"

Emilie smiled as she watched the small group interact, all smiles and teasing. They were clearly close, and she wondered how they had gotten as comfortable as they were with each other over the course of only a year. She had spent far more time with some of her private school friends back when she was a kid, and she had never been nearly as comfortable with them as Adrien clearly was with his friends. Nino reached over and ruffled Adrien's hair, and Adrien just laughed and ducked away. Alya and Marinette were giggling over something, and when the boys were done goofing around, they slid into the conversation easily enough.

She had missed _so much_ , but even as upset as Emilie was about that, she knew that she was lucky. She could have been freed in five years, or ten, or twenty or fifty (or never), and then she would have come back to find Adrien an adult, maybe with his own kids or grandkids- or, even worse, _gone_.

If she considered it in that way, then Emilie was very, very lucky. Even with as much that had changed over the past year, even with as overwhelming as it was to take in, at least Emilie could recognize her son. She might have missed his first day of school and his first crush, but at least she hadn't missed any weddings or babies. A few new friends and a new school were easy enough to accept. Emilie was disappointed to have missed the start of Adrien's relationship, but she could live with that. And while the changes in Adrien's personality were harder to immediately get used to- she wasn't used to him acting so _free_ \- it was hardly a _complete_ about-face from the boy that she had left.

As they headed across the city- apparently they wanted to actually eat somewhere else, but the first park had just been a convenient meeting place- Emilie gradually got to know more about Adrien's new best friends.

Alya ran the Ladyblog, which had all of the most up-to-date Ladybug information. It wasn't really that active anymore- the superheroes had been out of the country, of course, and Alya had been on a trip recently as well which had kept her from posting anything new- but there were still pictures that people submitted when they spotted Ladybug and Chat Noir out and about. She didn't say anything about other superheroes, and so Emilie guessed that her assumption from the trip was probably correct- while Ladybug and Chat Noir lived in Paris, the rest of the group probably lived elsewhere and had just gotten together to rescue her. Maybe they would come and visit on occasion now that they had all become closer over the course of the trip, but they hadn't lived in the city before.

"And I was able to help sometimes with my reporting, so I got special interviews even though I'm an amateur reporter," Alya was telling her, and Emilie nodded along. "And sometimes Ladybug or Chat Noir would submit pictures that they had taken of themselves. They just sent me the _coolest_ pictures of them plus some other superheroes, but I haven't had the chance to post them yet."

"Oh, they must be photos that they took on the trip to rescue me," Emilie commented. "It's gorgeous countryside, really. I got to take a picture of them by a waterfall."

Alya pointed at her. "Yes! That's the best one, with all seven of them. Can I interview you about them sometime? About what the other superheroes are like? Paris already knows Ladybug and Chat Noir so well, but the others are a bit of a mystery."

"Well, that's good that Paris already knows Ladybug and Chat Noir, because I couldn't really get to know them. They were a bit aloof with me," Emilie commented. She considered Alya's request. "And I'm open to doing an interview, but not right away. I'm still adjusting and trying to get caught up with everything else."

"Of course!" Alya did a little dance, and the rest of the group grinned at her enthusiasm. "That's, uh, so weird that Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't friendly. They normally are!"

Emilie could only shrug. She had her own theories about why Ladybug and Chat Noir had kept their distance- the higher probability of running into them versus the other users, their exhaustion with their lives revolving around their superhero duties for a year, not wanting to interact with Hawkmoth's wife- but she wasn't going to be bothered by it. "I'm sure they were looking forward to their lives getting back to normal." She turned to Nino, who had been trotting along next to Alya. "So Nino, what do you like doing for fun?"

Nino told her. And, three minutes later, Emilie had a sneaking suspicion that Gabriel probably hadn't liked Nino much. He was perfectly polite, but had an informalness about him that would drive her stern husband up the wall. It took a little getting used to- Emilie was pretty certain that she had never been addressed as "dude" before in her life- but she could tell that Nino didn't mean any disrespect.

She could see why Adrien liked them. They were friendly and didn't seem to take them too seriously, which was such a change from his father. They laughed together easily, and Emilie was willing to bet that they were probably a supportive group for studying as well.

Before long, they had arrived at another park and Marinette and Nino spread out the blanket. The baskets held down two corners, and they all helped unload the food.

Baguettes and buns came out of Marinette's basket. The rest of the picnic came out of Alya's, bowls and leftover containers and bags of food. It was a lot even for five people, and that was even without dessert- which, if Emilie was reading Adrien correctly, there was probably a cake still in Marinette's basket.

Well, they certainly knew how to relax.

Even though there were other picnickers in the park, their group still started receiving attention only a few minutes after they had gotten themselves served up. There were people snapping photos of Emilie and Adrien, and a couple people started wandering closer

Emilie frowned. She had wanted to have a nice, quiet lunch out, but apparently they wouldn't get that. They would probably have people approaching them in the next few minutes unless they did something.

"Would any of you object if I called Gerald out to join us?" Emilie asked, glancing around the circle. "People might be less likely to bother us if he's here."

There was a pause, and then Emilie caught sight of the teens' puzzled expression. Alya mouthed " _Gerald?_ " to Adrien, and then Emilie caught on.

Ah, _right_. How had she forgotten about Adrien's nickname for his driver? He had probably never told them the Gorilla's real name.

"Adrien's driver and bodyguard," Emilie clarified, and she wasn't surprised to see the comprehension dawn on their faces. Marinette elbowed Adrien, looking fondly exasperated as she rolled her eyes at him. He just shrugged, looking sheepish.

He had always had a hard time remembering Gerald's name, for whatever reason. Emilie supposed that coming up with a nickname was probably more respectful than what Chloe did, with just coming up with different iterations of her butler's names and never using the same one more than once in a row.

"We'd love to have him," Alya said, glancing around at the others for confirmation. "We have plenty of food to share, if he wants to bring a plate and a fork. Or- actually, I think we might have an extra in here."

Emilie smiled as she pulled out her phone to text Gerald. Already she could already tell that Adrien's new friends were a good influence. Chloe would have allowed the bodyguard for Adrien's sake, but not even thought about offering him any food.

Gerald only took a couple minutes to arrive, making Emilie suspect that he might have been hanging around nearby in case he was needed. The lingering pedestrians cleared off as soon as he appeared, and then they continued their picnic in peace.

A lovely meal finished up with generous slices of Opera cake, and Emilie had to smile at the contented look on Adrien's face. He flopped down on the ground with his head in Marinette's lap once they had finished, nestling down with his eyes closed and a smile on his lips. Emilie very nearly opened her mouth to scold him for not asking Marinette's permission first- girlfriend or no, permission was _important_ \- but Marinette had just smiled fondly down at Adrien, her hand going to brush through his hair automatically. They looked so comfortable that it made Emilie guess that they had probably already talked about boundaries when it came to casual touches with each other.

Emilie was curious about what kinds of boundaries they had set, truth be told. From what she had seen, Adrien and Marinette were _incredibly_ close, far beyond any other relationship she had ever seen at their age, and seemed to not have much of a personal bubble with it came to the other person. It was a bit unusual for a relationship that was only just over two months old.

"Oh, look, Alix and Kim and Max!" Nino exclaimed several minutes later, once the picnic leftovers had been packed away and they were all relaxing and digesting. He waved, and Emilie followed his gaze to see a trio headed towards them.

"They're three of our classmates," Alya explained to Emilie. "Kim and Alix get into all sorts of dares and contests with each other, and Max times them or judges the results."

"It's really fun to watch," Adrien chimed in, his eyes not opening at all. "Or exasperating, depending on the day and the challenge. Some of their arguments are pretty dumb."

"Yo, we haven't run into you lot for a while!" the taller boy in the group hollered over at them. His footsteps picked up. "The rest of the crew will be here in a few minutes if you guys want to join us for a bit of football! "

"Wait, like _everyone?"_ Adrien wanted to know, finally sitting up. "The whole class?"

"Well, not you lot, and not Chloe or Sabrina, but everyone else from our class."

"We can introduce you to everyone then, mom!" Adrien exclaimed, grinning. "Don't worry, they're all really friendly!"

"I'm sure, dear," Mrs. Agreste assured him, and then she paused, suddenly a bit nervous. "Uh, exactly how many of you are there in your class, exactly?"

Adrien frowned as he thought. "Uh- not many? Around a dozen?"

Emilie relaxed. "Oh. Okay, then." A dozen wasn't bad, not when three of that dozen were already there with her and Chloe was apparently busy. "I'd love to meet them!"

Maybe it would be overwhelming to meet all of Adrien's classmates and friends at once, but, well...Emilie suspected that meeting Adrien's friends might be the most pleasant thing that she had to do now that she had gotten home.

So she was going to enjoy it.

* * *

Emilie smoothed down her blouse as she prepared to enter the prison where Gabriel was being held. She let out a nervous breath as she looked up at the grey, imposing exterior.

Nothing about the prison particularly made her want to go in.

Emilie had come to see Gabriel because she felt obligated to and because she was curious about what story he would try to spin for her, nothing more. She had gone over all of the akuma footage that she could find whenever she wasn't talking to Adrien or his friends or Nathalie, and what she had found had _not_ impressed her.

The entire city in danger. Ladybug and Chat Noir- _teenagers!_ \- being targeted by supervillains. Children, teens, mothers, _babies_ fleeing out of the way of a rampaging akuma and not escaping in time. Both kids and actual, literal _babies_ being transformed into supervillains and forced to fight for Gabriel's cause.

Akumas going after _Adrien_ and not being stopped. Emilie knew that Hawkmoth had been able to control his akumas to some degree- not too much, since they weren't _puppets_ , but _enough_ to get them to actually do what he wanted instead of going after their own revenge single-mindedly- and so he should have been able to dissuade them long enough for Adrien to get away. He _should_ have been willing to do that much for his very own _son_ , at least, but _nope_.

Gabriel had even targeted the collège that he had sent Adrien to, knowing full well that Adrien could easily be in the line of fire. Emilie had tried to get Adrien to talk about the attacks, just to try to figure out how they had made him feel, but had stopped when it became apparent that he didn't feel comfortable talking about it.

Honestly, she couldn't blame him. So she was here to get answers, try to sort out her conflicted, roiling feelings about Gabriel, and _leave_. The fact that Adrien had refused to come at all told her all that she needed to know about Adrien's feelings about his father, so she just had to make a perfunctory visit and make Gabriel _explain himself_ before she called it good.

Emilie was glad that Adrien and Marinette were going out while she was making her visit. Marinette would keep Adrien distracted, she was sure of it.

 _Appropriately_ distracted, of course. Even if she and Adrien seemed _far_ closer than a couple that had only been dating for a couple months, Emilie could tell that they both had level heads on their shoulders and were unlikely to move _too_ fast in the physical part of their relationship.

Well. Hopefully. That was what Emilie was getting out of seeing their interactions so far, at least.

Before she could over-think her son's relationship (she _had_ briefly met Marinette's parents and if they were fine with the relationship, she would be, too- she _really_ didn't want to be the uncool parent, not when she had just returned), Emilie straightened her shoulders and headed for the building. It was intimidating, to say the least, and the looks that she was getting from the security wasn't helping matters. Still, she got through with very little trouble, and then she was seated at a long table sectioned off with dividers and separated from the opposite side of the table with a glass- or, rather, probably heavy plastic- that had holes in it so that the people on either side could hear each other.

"Your husband will be brought out shortly," one of the guards told her as she sat down, and Emilie just nodded, glancing around at the room. It wasn't particularly welcoming, which...well, wasn't a surprise, considering that it _was_ a jail. There weren't any other visitors there besides her, which... well, also not a surprise. Emilie had been asked to come in outside of visiting hours, since Gabriel was apparently not a particularly popular prisoner among his peers and they didn't want to deal with having him out at the same time as the others if they could help it.

Emilie wasn't surprised that terrorizing a city for a year and getting off with a relatively light sentence instead of being locked away for life due to his ability to hire a really, really good lawyer really hadn't endeared Gabriel to... well, anyone.

Footsteps caught her attention, and Emilie glanced up. Two guards were escorting a figure towards her, and it took Emilie a moment to recognize it as her husband. Gabriel had lost his signature hairstyle- they probably didn't provide gel in the jail, so he had gotten it cut short- and while he had clearly done his best to keep his clothes neat, there was no dry cleaning or irons for him to use and so he looked less pressed than normal.

...he had made some truly _horrendous_ choices in which clothes to bring, all things considered. Emilie knew that Gabriel _did_ have outfits that could look decent without that much upkeep, but that particular outfit was _not_ one of them.

"Emilie!" Gabriel exclaimed, trying to lunge forward as soon as he saw her. Emilie could see the guards tighten their grip on his arms to keep him under control and keep moving forward at a steady pace. "They told me that you were found, and that you were back, but I didn't want to believe it. Not until I saw it."

"Yes, the superheroes were very kind to take part of their summer to come out and free me." Emilie watched as Gabriel was seated at the table across from her and the guards stepped back. "I've been working on catching up with the situation in Paris ever since I got back."

Gabriel waved a dismissive hand, eyes locked on her face as though he was drinking the sight of her in. "It's not changed that much. Some fashions changed, yes- and Nathalie can tell you what's on trend now, don't listen to Audrey Bourgeois because her taste has _absolutely_ gone off the rails- and the company has released a few new lines, but that's it."

"That is _not_ it!" Emilie protested. "Adrien started school and got new friends and grew up _so_ much, and you're in jail-"

"A temporary condition. They didn't put me in for life."

Emilie's eyebrows shot up at that. Given Gabriel's current age- older than her by nearly seven years- he would be sixty-five at the _youngest_ when he was released, and seventy at the oldest- unless, of course, something came up to add time.

Which, knowing Gabriel... well, he wasn't exactly patient, especially. He could fake it for a bit, but then his frustration would get to him and he would explode, and he wouldn't be able to get out early for good behavior.

"But nothing will be the _same_ by the time you get out- fashion trends change in the blink of an eye," Emilie protested. "And Adrien will be grown, and, and-"

"I can keep up from in here," Gabriel assured her, confident as always. "With some assistance, of course, but I can keep up."

Something akin to hope stirred in Emilie's gut. Was that- remorse, maybe? Gabriel wanting to reform, taking an interest in Adrien's life after being an absentee parent for a year (and, Emilie had to admit, a not-very-involved parent before that)? Emilie didn't let herself dwell on that for long, though.

Gabriel was good at acting, she knew that much. Even if he hadn't been acting when she first met him, he _had_ been changing his behavior and hiding who he really was from her by the time they made their last visit to the temple. She couldn't fall for his acting again, not after seeing how he had not cared about Adrien as Hawkmoth (and how he had behaved towards Adrien as _himself_ \- Nathalie had filled her in since Adrien didn't seem particularly inclined to). Maybe he had some remorse _now,_ but Emilie had to remember that there was probably a large part of it that remorse for getting _caught_ , not for how he had behaved.

Emilie had to resist the urge to just sit back and believe that Gabriel had repented, just for the sake of smoothing things over and going back to what was _normal_. Maybe she wanted to cling to the old life that had slipped through her fingers, but she had to stand strong and question anything that Gabriel did.

He was a master manipulator, she had to remember that. The man that she had fallen in love with was at best gone, at worst had always been a lie.

"Have you recovered from the trip?" Gabriel asked after a moment of silence. "I imagine that it was probably hard, without a helicopter."

Emilie's eye twitched at the reminder that _yes,_ she meant to ask about that, and why the superheroes hadn't just been _told_ about the coordinates and the helicopters. "It was a hard trip, but the superheroes did their best to make sure that it was fast and that I would be well-fed. I'm enjoying being at home again, though. I've gotten to meet a number of Adrien's friends."

" _Friends,_ " Gabriel muttered, rolling his eyes. "Bad influences, most of them. That DJ _friend_ of his- so _insolent_ , he always talks back- and then that reporter girl has _no_ common sense. Then there's the roughhousing from some of them, unsportsmanlike behavior- I should have insisted on Adrien going to private school instead."

Emilie was of the belief that Gabriel had absolutely no feet to stand on to criticize others for being bad influences. Besides, Adrien's friends were just _teenagers_ , and teenagers could be almost offensively informal, or foolhardy, or rough-and-tumble, and still be fantastic people.

It _was_ interesting that Gabriel hadn't said anything specific about Marinette, though. Was it possible that he might have approved of her, since she was a talented designer? Or maybe Gabriel just didn't know about her, but that seemed strange, considering that from what Emilie understood, Adrien and Marinette had been close friends before they started dating.

A few more minutes passed, more or less filled by pleasantries. Emilie tried not to let herself get _too_ caught up in their conversation, knowing that it was more than likely a facade, her biding her time until Gabriel was relaxed enough to answer her questions instead of trying to avoid them in order to ensure that he would actually get to spend some time with her. She indulged him, even as she knew that she couldn't let the _entirety_ of their visit go like this. She had things that she wanted to ask about, darn it.

"By the way, before I forget, once you settle down at home again, you should start looking for a new secretary. Nathalie has ceased to be useful," Gabriel said, scowling suddenly and throwing Emilie off. "I don't want her working for our family anymore."

Emilie was pretty sure that her jaw was on the floor. Fire Nathalie? _Why?_ Nathalie had gone above and beyond to take care of Adrien, to make Emilie's trip back to Paris go quickly and smoothly, and to keep everything else running normally on top of all of that. " _Why?_ "

"She went behind my back and disobeyed my orders," Gabriel announced, leaning forward and gripping the table, knuckles turning white as he did. "I would even say that she forged my signature, though the court certainly didn't see it that way."

"Wh- _how?_ " Emilie asked, completely puzzled. "What, exactly..."

"Nathalie had been pushing for me to have a backup plan for who would care for Adrien if I could not," Gabriel said with a scowl. "If I failed, that is. And I _told_ her that she didn't need to concern herself about that, but she _still_ wrote up a document for me to sign that would make her guardian and put it in my pile of paperwork to sign. Since she always read through my contracts and forms so I didn't have to and just marked the line where I needed to sign, I didn't even notice it and it got signed with the rest of a batch."

Emilie tried not to laugh at that. Efficient as always, Nathalie was. Even when Gabriel was being a stubborn ass, she was a problem-solver to make sure that Adrien was taken care of. The fact that the legality of her actions was somewhat questionable was... well, it didn't bother Emilie. In fact, she found it rather funny. "I don't see the problem with that. It was needed. Nathalie saw that there was a possibility that you would fail, and she addressed the problem as best she could. She kept the disruption in Adrien's life to a minimum, and I thank her for that."

Gabriel's jaw worked angrily as he worked for an answer. "Yes, well- had she _not_ gone behind my back and made plans, I'm sure that the police would have asked me who I wanted to take care of Adrien. It's hardly as though I _died_. If she had waited for approval until then, I would have been fine with it. On the condition, of course, that she bring Adrien in to see me for my weekly visit, which she has _not_ done."

Frankly, Emilie approved of that, too. "We'll have to disagree on that, then. Nathalie has done a _very_ good job with looking after Adrien, and I'm afraid that it would upset him if I were to let her go."

A distinctly irritated look flashed across Gabriel's face. Clearly he had already gotten over the excitement and relief of seeing her again safe and sound and was reverting back to his normal attitude with her disagreement. "Yes, well, I suppose I can understand that. Moving on- I would like to be brought up to speed with everything that's going on. I have called the house on occasion, of course, but Nathalie only tells me so much and as I said, she _never_ sends Adrien over to talk to me. It's quite childish of him to keep avoiding me. I would like for him to come during next week's visit, if not sooner."

Emilie frowned at that. She had never liked Gabriel's tendency to try to give her orders, and she was _not_ going to make Adrien come if he didn't want to. "If Adrien doesn't want to come, I'm not going to force him, Gabriel." It was also presumptuous of him to assume that _she_ was going to be returning every week, when he clearly hadn't had any issue with putting Adrien in danger several times a week- and _clearly_ hadn't felt much (if any) remorse about it, if she was reading his belligerent attitude correctly. Gabriel _knew_ how much she cared for Adrien and how protective she was of him, and so he should know that that wouldn't fly with her, not at all.

Perhaps he thought that she hadn't had the chance to look up the attacks. That was frankly ridiculous. After she had caught up with Adrien- or whenever she had free time when Adrien was doing something else- she had looked things up, growing progressively more alarmed at what she found.

Gabriel's expression didn't change. "I am his _father_. I should be able to see him."

They weren't going to get _anywhere_ at this rate. "I'll bring it up with him this week," Emilie lied, just to get Gabriel to move on. They would never get to the _real_ reason for her visit- finding out what on _earth_ he had been thinking- if they got stuck arguing about Adrien. "Perhaps he'll change his mind."

"Tell him that I expect to see him." Gabriel leaned forward. "So what's going on with the company? Nathalie refuses to tell me a thing because I've been removed, but that's ridiculous. I won't be in here forever."

Emilie was pretty sure that her eye twitched at that. Gabriel was meant to be in for over a decade, maybe even two. The company wouldn't be the same then as it was now, and it wasn't as though he would automatically be rehired. In fact, there was probably no chance of him being a part of the company that he had started again. Still, Emilie wasn't in a mood to argue with Gabriel. It was a common feeling really, and... well, she didn't miss it. Best to give the shortest run-down she could and then try to steer the conversation properly. "It's going through a rebranding. Different logo, at the very least. I'm returning to my position once I've recovered from the trip. Getting briefed on the state of the company hasn't exactly been the top of my priority list."

"I'd like for you to get updated as soon as you get back to the house," Gabriel decided, nodding sharply. "A full report, with a focus on sales and stocks, and perhaps employee retention. Current fashion trends- they don't exactly keep us up to date in here, and I know how quickly things can change over a matter of months- and-"

"Gabriel, you are _not_ part of the company anymore," Emilie reminded him sharply. "You will not be contributing. There's no _point_ in keeping you in the loop, not when things will change in the years between now and whenever you get released."

Gabriel didn't like happy about being told no. "Emilie-"

"I have been busy catching up with Adrien, who I have not seen in a _year_ ," Emilie reminded him. "The company seems to be doing fine under Nathalie and the board's supervision. I will _not_ be running back and forth with information. It is a waste of my time."

"We'll discuss it more next time, then," Gabriel decided, as though Emilie hadn't just told him that she refused to spend her time keeping him up to date with the company.

"Perhaps." Emilie sat back in the chair, her arms crossed. "So I had _questions,_ Gabriel, and I expect you to answer them _._ What were you _thinking_ , becoming a _supervillain?_ "

Gabriel looked only moderately abashed at the question. "I had to get you back, and using the Butterfly to retrieve the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous seemed the most straightforward path. Had I succeeded, the attacks would have been erased from memory."

"And since you didn't, you scarred most of the city for life," Emilie shot back. "And _Adrien-_ I saw the footage from the akuma fights and he was in danger _so_ often-"

"And if I had been allowed to explain to him before getting dragged off, it was a simple cost-benefit analysis," Gabriel cut across her, looking utterly unbothered by the accusation. "Come now, Emilie. Look at it _logically_. Having you back would have benefitted Adrien as well. I never would have let it go so far as to hurt him."

Emilie's glare intensified. Think _logically?_ She wasn't the one who had decided that it would be _logical_ to be a supervillain instead of seeking out more knowledgeable help. "And Gorizilla? Adrien got dropped off the top of a _very_ tall building! You could have stopped it before it got that far! He could have died!"

"Adrien was not dropped, he _jumped_ ," Gabriel corrected, as though _that_ was any better. "And I had the akuma drop Ladybug so that she could save him."

"Not right away, though!" Emilie argued. She remembered _everything_ about that video, and the long seconds between when Adrien had started to fall and when Ladybug had been released had lasted an eternity. Emilie had thought that she was going to see her son die in a fall to the pavement, only to be revived by Ladybug's power once the fight ended.

Gabriel looked a little uncomfortable before his mask took over. "Yes, well. I was also testing a hypothesis, of sorts. I had suspected that Adrien was Chat Noir," he added when Emilie's scowl deepened. "Because of... evidence that had accumulated. I figured that if he _were_ Chat Noir, he would transform before reaching the ground."

Emilie spluttered. " _Adrien?_ He's not Chat Noir, are you _insane?_ He was in Paris with his girlfriend while the superheroes were in Tibet rescuing me! I've _met_ them, they're nothing alike!"

"Yes, well, I didn't have that information then. Perhaps I should have tried to gather a bit more information before doing anything, but I saw an opportunity and I took it. And the data I _did_ have at the time pointed to Adrien being Chat Noir. I had never seen the two of them at the same time before."

"So you decided to _nearly kill Adrien_."

"If anything had gone wrong, I would have allowed Ladybug to win at once," Gabriel offered. "Her powers would have reversed anything."

Emilie was _speechless_. Sure, Ladybug's powers could undo physical damage, but what about _emotional_ damage? People no doubt got nightmares from the attacks, _especially_ if they died during the attacks and were brought back. If Adrien had _died_ , even temporarily, he would no doubt have nightmares about it for the rest of his life and be wary of heights. There would be footage circulating about it, no doubt, and having to deal with _that_...

No, Ladybug's Cure couldn't reverse _everything_ , and it was dangerous to have that kind of attitude towards it.

Gabriel seemed to think that he had adequately responded to her concerns, because he clearly wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. Instead, he glanced back at the bored-looking guards, then leaned forward. "So the superheroes rescued you."

"Yes, as I already said," Emilie bit out, wondering where he was going with that and figuring that she might as well play along, at least for now. She knew how Gabriel worked. If she went back to a point that he thought was closed, he would get defensive and she would get no further information out of him. If she bided her time and let Gabriel talk about whatever he wanted to first, then she could circle the conversation back around to try to talk about the whole _endangering Adrien_ thing again. "And it took them longer than it should have, considering that _someone_ didn't give them the coordinates and the name of the helicopter company that we used. I don't know where you kept them that the superheroes couldn't find that information, but..."

Gabriel smirked, and Emilie wished that there wasn't a pane of glass in the way just so she could slap that look off of his face. It was an absolutely infuriating expression, really. "Yes, that was the plan. No coordinates, more time camping, more time to discover and _remember_ their identities." He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "If we can get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous and use them together, we get a wish. We can make it so that, instead of being Hawkmoth, I simply alerted the superheroes about you being trapped and then they went and rescued you like good little heroes. That way, we could be a _family_ again." He looked pleased with himself about that plan. "I figure that you must have been with them for two weeks, plenty of time for you to figure them out and commit their appearance to memory. Now you're back and can try to track them down!"

Emilie was certain that her expression had never turned from confused to horrified and then to angry so quickly. "You- _what?_ Why would I do that?"

"Well, we can't be together if I'm in jail," Gabriel pointed out in his most reasonable tone. "I'm in here for fifteen to twenty years, which is _entirely_ ridiculous. If I had gotten the Miraculous, the city would have forgotten about the attacks. They would have been erased from the timeline entirely, no lasting damage done. It's not as though I _intended_ to leave Paris in shambles or anything."

"And if you got them _now_ , when your wish was already fulfilled?"

Gabriel let out an exasperated huff. "Keep _up_ , Emilie. I would change the timeline to me taking the non-criminal option of getting you back, or I would make it so that you were never trapped at all. You would be back in Paris within a month instead of a year _or_ you could never be gone at all, and I wouldn't be in jail. Adrien would still be at home and safe instead of running who knows where all over the city. Everyone wins."

Emilie sat back, arms crossed. Even in jail, Gabriel still hadn't learned a _thing._ He just wanted to go back to using magic to solve his problems, which was what had landed him here in the first place. She had seen and heard _enough._ "Let me get this straight. You want me to steal from two teens, who went out of their way to rescue me, taking part of their summer to hike across Tibet and who were never anything but nice to me. You expect that I'll essentially _brainwash_ myself into forgetting that you thought it would be perfectly acceptable to turn into a supervillain and endanger Adrien. You want to take Adrien away from the school and friends and _girlfriend_ that make him happy and then make him forget _completely_ about it." Her voice was rising, and now the guards were paying attention to her. Emilie didn't care. "Just because you want to play happy family again. It doesn't work that way, Gabriel. I'm _not_ doing that. I'm not going to go along without your twisted plans." Emilie stood up in a flash, knocking her chair back. "You've shown me and the world who you really are inside, and I'm not going to turn a blind eye to that. I _refuse._ "

And with that, Emilie stormed right back out of the room, ignoring Gabriel's yells after her.

How _dare_ he try to rope her in to his manipulations. How _dare_ he think that everything could just go back to their old normal, that she would just participate in her own brainwashing- making herself _forget_ what he was capable of, what he would resort to if he wanted to get his way- and brainwashing _Adrien_.

Emilie wouldn't make Adrien forget Marinette and his other friends, not for anything. She could see how happy they made him.

Adrien had been happy before she was trapped, but it wasn't the same _level_ of happy. It was more of a content sort of happy, rather than _thriving_. He hadn't had many friends, had only really gone out for scheduled activities, and spent the day with only Nathalie and his tutors unless she or Gabriel had been available. They had done it to protect him, when they had the threat of the Rat hovering over their shoulders, but he had been stifled.

Emilie only just remembered to check out of the jail before leaving the building and heading out to the parking lot. She stepped out of the building, and was glad that she had accepted Gerald's offer to drive her. She was shaking with anger right now, and there would be no _way_ that she could drive safely.

There was no way that she could stay married to Gabriel now, not that she had thought that there would be much chance of that happening anyway. Not with how he had put Adrien in danger, not with how he had put the citizens of Paris in danger, not with how he apparently didn't care that people could have died from the attacks because he didn't know them and therefore they didn't matter to him.

Emilie let out a long breath as she considered that. When she was younger, she had never thought that she would end up divorced, but she thought that she knew more or less what she would have to consider. Everything they had- the house, the furniture in it, their main bank account- was jointly owned, so there would be a _lot_ to get separated out.

At least she would have a good chunk of time to figure it out. Fifteen to twenty years, to be exact. In the meantime, Emilie was going to be sure to use their joint bank account to redesign the mansion- and _particularly_ her bedroom. It was getting a _complete_ makeover, with absolutely everything in it donated and the room getting a fresh coat of paint. The former lair- well, she would have to consult with some architects, but perhaps it could be converted to a rooftop greenhouse.

Gerald pulled up, and Emilie got in. She was sure that she looked like a stormcloud still, and she was still steaming as they drove back to the mansion.

For some reason, Emilie had thought that Gabriel might act differently now. If he had gone to all the effort to try to get her back, surely he loved her, right? Surely he would be apologetic for what he had done, surely he would be tripping over himself to try to get back in her good graces.

But he hadn't. He had gone back to his normal self, utterly unapologetic and making demands of her and Adrien as though they were his employees or something

Gabriel didn't love _her_ , Emilie realized. He might be _obsessed_ with her, but if he had loved her, then he would stop trying to order her around. He would have reformed his ways, because he would know that that was what she would have wanted. He had once put on enough of a show so that she would love _him,_ but that mask had slipped.

Figuratively _and_ literally.

Emilie got home to find a message waiting for her on the office phone. It was from Gabriel, of course, though Emilie had no idea how he had managed to convince the guards to allow him to do that when she had pretty much announced to the world that he _still_ had designs on the Miraculous to make a wish. Surely that would mean that he would be put under higher security- but _no_ , he had called home.

"Emilie, be reasonable," Gabriel started, sounding very composed, as though he was scolding a small child. "I know you're fond of the Miraculous holders, but I'm not asking you to _hurt_ them. They'll never even know once things are fixed and put right. We can go back to what we had before. I know you know where to find them, so finish your sulking and figure out a plan."

"I would slap him if I could," Emilie announced, very glad that Adrien wasn't home at the moment. She was probably going to be storming around for the rest of the day, and Adrien had probably had enough of immature adult temper tantrums. Maybe she should have Nathalie call up the bakery and ask if Adrien could stay for dinner, just so she could have a little more time to pull herself back together. "This _idiot_ , I don't understand how I ever thought that he was romantic at all."

"Also, inform Adrien that he is not allowed a girlfriend until he's eighteen," Gabriel's voice continued, in that same 'you- _will_ -listen-to-me' tone. "And perhaps for several years afterwards, as well. Famous models are more popular and will sell more if they're single. The company image will suffer if the main model is seen acting inappropriately with a girl-"

"Can we block the prison's number?" Emilie asked Nathalie as Gabriel continued to prattle on about _company image_ and _tell Adrien that_ in the background. "I have no interest in being further contacted by Gabriel."

"I can stop passing the messages on to you," Nathalie suggested. "Let him leave his messages, and I can collect them and present them to the court. If they learn that he's _still_ trying to get out of any consequences and mess with the timeline- and I know that Ladybug and Chat Noir were irritated about something they brought up not being taken seriously enough. Something about consequences for messing with the timeline?" Nathalie tilted her head, considering. "I don't remember what it was exactly, I couldn't be there for all of the proceedings. Anyway, the court might add time to his sentence, and it would certainly be evidence for...well, anything else you could use it for."

The corner of Emilie's lips quirked up into what could almost have been a smile, though she wasn't feeling particularly cheerful. Gabriel would never see it coming, with as confident as he was about others following his instructions. "It's as though you read my mind, Nathalie."

"I can start looking up legal issues we might run into," Nathalie offered, already reaching for her keyboard. "If you want me to."

"You do that," Emilie agreed, sitting down at the free computer and opening up a new window. "And I was wondering if you could call up Marinette's family and ask if Adrien could stay for dinner? I'm not in a fantastic mood at the moment, and I don't want to worry him."

"Of course."

Once the Dupain-Chengs were called and they agreed to keep Adrien for the evening for Emilie, she properly dove into a search for interior designers in Paris, looking at their styles and trying to imagine what they might do with the house. Many had perfectly lovely-looking portfolios, but, well, after a lifetime of _minimalist_ design in their house, Emilie was rather ready for a change.

By the time she had eaten dinner and Adrien had returned, Marinette accompanying him, Emilie had a list of potential designers to investigate more and Nathalie had pulled together a dossier about divorce and division of assets.

As Emilie got up to meet the teens, smiling at them as they told her all about their day, she couldn't bring herself to doubt her decisions at all. She wanted a fresh start, and making the house properly hers and Adrien's instead of Gabriel's and permanently cutting her soon-to-be-ex-husband out of her life was a good place to begin.

Even if it would be hard- and she knew Gabriel would cause as much trouble as possible- Emilie couldn't wait.


	4. Plagg's Songbook

A/N: I apologize for all of this. And yes, I sang all of these songs at least once while coming up with the rewritten lyrics. #writersuffering

* * *

 **How Cheese is Made**

 _Milk! Culture! Rennet!_

 _The magic potion, oh, let it sit!_

 _Cut it into curds- not too early! Little blocks of baby cheese!_

 _Spin those curds and whey! Drain it off, hey hey hey!_

 _Press those curds down tight, no more whey!_

 _And then the cheese curds are salted- so squeaky!_

 _Oh, fresh cheese curds- yum yum yum! I could eat them all day!_

 _All kinds of curds! Plain, seasoned, deep-fried, poutine!_

 _Garlic! Dill! Spice 'em up! Bread 'em, serve 'em, squeak between my teeth!_

 _All the other curds- oh, where do they go?_

 _They get cheddared and pressed and then the cheese is aged!_

 _Oh, age that cheese, age it fine, let it develop a beautiful rind-_

 _A natural rind! Oh, they dry out and the cheese forms a skin._

 _Rub it with oil and brine and let it age! And then, come time-_

 _Cut off the rind and I'll get Cheddar and Stilton and Tommes_

 _And oh, it'll feed my tum!_

 _White and soft and fuzzy, you've got a bloomer!_

 _Spray your cheese with mold, get it started,_

 _Let it sit, and let the magic happen! It grows and grows and oh-_

 _Brie! Camembert! Saint Andre! Heaven on my tongue!_

 _If you wash and get moldy, that's a washed rind, ooh!_

 _Stinky cheeses, so much fun! No hard rind here, no siree!_

 _No mold, just bacteria! The smell of stinky feet fills the air, yum!_

 _Let me sink my fangs into that Limberger, that Livarot, that Pont l'Eveque!_

 _The Taleggio, the Epoisses, the Reblochon!_

 _And then for Mozzarella, oh, no rind here!_

 _Work it, knead it, make it stringy!_

 _Twist and pull and push those curds_

 _Form a ball_

 _Then open your mouth and eat it all!_

 _Adrien's notes: Why. Why._

 _Also, there's no set tune. Plagg sang this as a rock song once and a country song the next time. There's no rhyme or reason to it._

* * *

 **The History of Cheese**

 _It was 8000 BC_

 _Stomachs were used to carry milk_

 _Heat and rennet mixed together_

 _And now you add a little salt_

 _Salt was used for preservation_

 _Keep those curds nice in summer sun_

 _Make those cheese curds daily_

 _The squeak is so much fun!_

 _From Arabia! To Asia! Then Rome!_

 _That glorious process did roam._

 _To England, and then beyond_

 _The curd, the whey, the strong_

 _Flavor beyond compare!_

 _Oh, the smell that fills the air!_

 _Milk in an animal's stomach_

 _Turns to cheese all thanks to rennet!_

 _Monks improved the taste_

 _Through their tried and true ways_

 _Gorgonzola in Italy, Roquefort in France_

 _Many things made from curd and whey!_

 _Hard cheese for the Romans_

 _Now it becomes an art_

 _Middle Ages was gold for testing_

 _More varieties there art!_

 _Less salt begets more cream_

 _More cream is better for taste!_

 _When it's colder cheeses can ripen_

 _A glorious advance!_

 _In those Middle Ages_

 _First did appear_

 _Camembert, cheddar, Gouda_

 _The staples of anyone's year!_

 _Cheeses continued to improve_

 _Many, many rounds were made!_

 _Many rounds were eaten_

 _I had several per day-_

 _Adrien's notes: Song has been cut off due to length and also the sanity of the scribe._

 _It was over an hour long and entirely set to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance. Save me._

* * *

 **Don't Stop Cheesin'**

 _Adrien's notes: Sung to the tune of Don't Stop Believing_

 _(Verse 1)_

 _Just a cheesy treat!_

 _Sitting there for me to eat!_

 _Fresh mozzarella can be eaten anywhere!_

 _Just a cheese bowl!_

 _Get it for a small toll!_

 _I would eat it anywhere!_

 _(Verse 2)_

 _Some cheddar in an aging room!_

 _The smell of brine mmm-mm._

 _I could eat it all night_

 _Because it's yum and yum and yum and yum!_

 _(Chorus)_

 _Camembert! Brie!_

 _Up and down the cheese store shelves!_

 _Parmesan! Gruyere! Eat it all night!_

 _Come on, people! Live just to enjoy cheese!_

 _Come on, it's just so good!_

 _(Verse 3)_

 _Working hard to get my Swiss_

 _A dairy treat I'll never miss!_

 _Paying anything to get a bite_

 _Just one more time_

 _Some will scoff, some say no_

 _Some were born to pay their dues_

 _To the best thing on the earth_

 _Yes, it's cheese and cheese and cheese and cheese!_

 _(Chorus)_

 _Camembert! Brie!_

 _Up and down the cheese store shelves!_

 _Parmesan! Gruyere! Eat it all night!_

 _Come on, people! Live just to enjoy cheese!_

 _Come on, it's just so good!_

 _(Outro) (x3)_

 _Don't stop cheesing_

 _Feed me some Camembert!_

 _Cheese curds, feta!_

* * *

 **Gouda after midnight**

 _Adrien's notes: sung to the tune of "Living after Midnight" by Judas Priest_

 _(Chorus)_

 _Gouda after midnight_

 _Cheddar to the dawn_

 _Colby to the mornin'_

 _Then I'm gone, I'm gone._

 _(Verse 1)_

 _I ate some cheese 'round one P.M._

 _Feta, Brie!_

 _But now I'm all hungry again_

 _Cheddar, Gouda!_

 _I power up with my favorite type_

 _And bathe in its radiant light_

 _(Repeat chorus)_

 _(Verse 2)_

 _Got glorious edam, moldy blue_

 _Camembert, Provolone!_

 _Ready to buy them up on sale_

 _Havarti, Monterey!_

 _My stomach's growling, I'm ready to feast_

 _My teeth are bared now, ready to eat_

 _(Repeat Chorus)_

 _(Verse 3)_

 _Gorgonzola_

 _I wanna eat ya!_

 _My stomach's ready_

 _A whole round!_

 _The cheese board's ready, smellin' lovely_

 _Ricotta, Swiss!_

 _I'm getting hungrier by the minute_

 _Roquefort, Vacherin!_

 _I see the cheese and then home in_

 _The crumbs are flying as I dig in_

 _(Repeat chorus 3x)_

* * *

 **The Sound of Cheese**

 _Adrien's notes: Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music._

 _Let's get some cheese from the kitchen_

 _A very good place in the house_

 _You had better have the basics in very good cheese_

 _Let me have some cheese like Cheddar and Brie_

 _I love cheese, I love cheese_

 _My favorite food in the world just happens to be_

 _Tasty cheese, tasty cheese_

 _Tasty cheese in my tummy_

 _Cheese! Some cheese! Some tasty cheese!_

 _Someone, get me some Provolone!_

 _Brie, a cheese to fill myself_

 _Farmer's- a creamy, creamy one!_

 _Swiss, a hard cheese on my tongue_

 _Le Roule, all rolled in yummy stuff!_

 _Taleggio, I'll have it on some bread_

 _I want it all at home (oh-oh-oh)_

 _(repeat. Over and over and over.)_

* * *

 _ **Somewhere over the Cheese Hill**_

 _Adrien's notes: Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Surprise._

 _Somewhere over the cheese hill_

 _Cheddar on apple pie_

 _Parmesan that I dream of_

 _My cheesy lullaby_

 _Somewhere over the cheese hill_

 _Brie on rye_

 _I dream of swimming in fondue_

 _Someday it will come true_

 _The smell of cheese will fill the car_

 _White Stilton presented on a platter before me_

 _When cheese is dribbled over mushroom tops_

 _Lush and creamy, cheesy drops_

 _That's where you'll find me_

 _Somewhere over the cheese hill_

 _Brie on rye_

 _And I dream of swimming in fondue_

 _Oh why, oh why can't I?_

 _Well, I see cheese in my dreams and mushrooms too_

 _Cheese rinds bloom in green and blue_

 _And I think to myself_

 _What a wonderful Stilton_

 _Well, I see Roquefort and I see Fontina_

 _And Tomme de Savoie_

 _I love Camembert_

 _And I think to myself_

 _What a wonderful taste_

 _The colors of Shropshire Blue so pretty in my paws_

 _And even more pretty in my mouth_

 _I'd share with the people passing by_

 _But they wouldn't appreciate it_

 _Not like I do_

 _No one loves cheese like I, like I do_

 _I like gooey cheeses and I love their smell_

 _How they taste so good I'll never know_

 _And I think to myself_

 _What a wonderful taste_

 _The smell of cheese will fill the car_

 _White Stilton presented on a platter before me_

 _When cheese is dribbled over mushroom tops_

 _Lush and creamy, cheesy drops_

 _That's where you'll find me_

 _Somewhere over the cheese hill_

 _Brie on rye_

 _And I dream of swimming in fondue_

 _Oh why, oh why can't I?_

 _Ooh, ooh_

 _Ooh, ooh_


	5. Nathalie: Too Many Secrets

By the time the last of the paperwork associated with dismissing Mrs. Agreste's missing person case and integrating her back into her life was completed, Nathalie was _exhausted._ Several weeks of stress associated with getting Adrien back home from another country before his mom returned, with keeping the trip and the sleepovers secret, with worrying about Mrs. Agreste's response to finding out about what Nathalie had pulled to make her guardian for Adrien... well, it was tiring. And _that_ stress had all come after a year of Mrs. Agreste being missing and Mr. Agreste being a supervillain and threatening her into silence.

Nathalie was more than ready for a break. She wasn't sure if the remaining Agrestes would be all right on their own for a couple days, though- Mrs. Agreste was working her way through figuring out how much of the house she wanted to redecorate or renovate and was slowly getting reintegrated into her position at _Gabriel,_ and Adrien was still getting used to the new boundaries that his mom was slowly setting. So Nathalie buckled down, working to get just a _little_ bit ahead on all of her paperwork so that she could maybe take a day or two off.

She wasn't expecting Mrs. Agreste to approach her with a wide smile and a pamphlet for a resort just outside the city, one that had a very large, very nice spa. It wasn't somewhere that Nathalie would have ever thought of going herself, much too fancy for her and too expensive for her to justify going there even if it _would_ be incredibly enjoyable, but if Mrs. Agreste was going to pay for her to go there- for a _week_ , no less- then Nathalie wasn't going to say no.

She _was_ going to work especially hard in the week leading up to her spa time to make sure that everything was in order, though. If she left anything in less than perfect order, she would just stress over it while she was gone.

Of course, there was no _real_ way to make sure that Mrs. Agreste and Adrien wouldn't somehow find themselves in some sort of disaster over the week she was gone. Mrs. Agreste had always been dramatic, and she was under a decent amount of pressure between her integration back into her normal life and her attempts to break free of Gabriel's shadow.

"It's just so overwhelming," Emilie groaned two days before the start of Nathalie's spa trip, flopping into a chair next to Nathalie and yelping when it rolled several centimeters back. "There's just so _many_ rooms in this house, and they're so large, and it just gets so _expensive_ so quickly. And I know we can afford it, but _still_."

"Just change a few things, then," Nathalie told her, glancing up from the paperwork that she had spread out on the desk. She was well on top of things, to be honest- even ahead of the one-week buffer period that she had wanted- but it never hurt to have everything that could _possibly_ completed actually finished. "If there's anything that you flat-out hate, no matter what, then change that. The rest can wait until later. Make sure you sleep on any big changes. And remember that you don't necessarily need to tear out walls and change the floor plan. You _can_ just change the decorations."

It was a simple concept, really. But Nathalie couldn't blame Emilie for forgetting to consider it. After all, she had just had her life turned upside down and it was no doubt extremely overwhelming.

"Oh, what would I do without you, Nathalie?" Emilie exclaimed, all smiles again. "Of course! We must get rid of that awful painting at the top of the stairs. I don't know what Gabriel was thinking, it's absolutely tasteless. I'm just not sure what to replace it with. We used to have a proper family portrait there, but we don't exactly need pictures of Gabriel hanging everywhere."

"A new family portrait, perhaps?" Nathalie suggested, reaching for her tablet to pull up the artist's contact information. "With just you and Adrien? We could ask if the old canvas could be reused and painted over, since it was pretty expensive."

"Oh, but I always found having such large pictures of ourselves hanging around to be so tacky." Emilie frowned, thinking about it. "I'd say having a colorful picture of flowers and butterflies might brighten up the entry a bit, but we don't exactly need any reminders of butterflies in this house, do we?"

"Not particularly," Nathalie agreed, though privately she didn't think that anyone would mind pictures of normal, non-evil butterflies. "Birds, perhaps?"

Emile considered that. "Perhaps. Maybe I'll ask Adrien."

"Or Marinette, since she has an eye for design," Nathalie suggested. Marinette's style tended towards the bright and playful, which she suspected was what Emilie was going for. As a bonus, it was pretty much the opposite of Gabriel's design sense."You can always consult with her first, to see what little changes could completely turn around a room. I'm sure she would love sitting in on those kinds of meetings, to see where else creativity and an eye for design could be used. I know interior design isn't her _main_ focus, but..."

"Oh, I love it! It could be another way to bond with her!" Emilie exclaimed, grinning. "She's such a sweet girl, and Adrien certainly seems serious about her, so I want to make sure I get to know her well."

Nathalie smiled and nodded. Having Marinette help with the redecorating would also give Emilie a bit of impulse control, she felt. Marinette could see where things could be reused and would probably think of creative solutions for what they could do to brighten up the house without breaking the bank.

"I won't schedule anything while you're gone," Emilie told Nathalie, much to her relief. "I might talk to Marinette and see what ideas she might have, but I'm not going to go charging ahead."

"Maybe focus on spending time with Adrien and settling in at work again," Nathalie suggested after a minute of silence. "That _should_ be straightforward enough, right? You're all caught up with the trends, right?"

"Yes, Miss Bourgeois has me all caught up," Emilie said with a laugh. "Some of the trends I like, others not so much. But I have to admit that her taste has matured since I've been gone, so we've been able to have a conversation about what does and doesn't actually work."

"Her taste, and her attitude," Nathalie commented. She had been surprised to learn that Adrien's friendship with Chloe, which _had_ cooled during the school year, had apparently picked back up again. She had very nearly not recognized Chloe when she stopped by to see Adrien, what with her new haircut and the _please_ and _thank yous_ after Nathalie let her in. It was a pleasant surprise, and it was nice to know that Chloe would likely not grow up just like her mother. "Yes, clearly someone finally put their foot down and told her no a good few times, and it's done some good."

"Yes, definitely." Emilie grinned. "She's more like the sweet child she used to be, before she went so wrong. But don't worry," she added, switching back to their previous topic. "I'll stick with the basics while you're gone, so I don't run into any big problems. It'll be _fine_."

Nathalie tried not to look _too_ doubtful _._ It _was_ just a week, after all, and Mrs. Agreste _was_ a responsible, fully-grown adult.

Really, she was just worrying for nothing, she was sure.

* * *

Even though she had thought that doing nothing would drive her crazy, Nathalie found herself enjoying the resort. The meals were delicious, the service exceptional, and the spa itself?

She was pretty certain that her skin had never been quite so pampered. It had been scrubbed and treated and soaked, and it felt strange but also amazing.

Still, Nathalie couldn't _completely_ set work aside. She had brought along her tablet and did a bit of work in the evenings, just out of reflex. She _had_ brought along books to read, ones that she had wanted to look at but just hadn't had the time, but it felt odd to not be doing at least _something_ a little productive during the day.

(She couldn't do _too_ much work, though, or Adrien and Emilie would notice when she got back. That...was a good, thing, probably. It _forced_ her to take time off and relax.

Still, Nathalie couldn't resist the urge to spend just a _little_ time trying to puzzle out how she could get a _couple_ things done while she had downtime in her room. Old habits were hard to break, after all.)

By the time Nathalie's last day rolled around, though, she was tiring of laying around and doing nothing. While the numerous massages had relaxed her muscles- and _oh_ , some of the aches that had settled in over the years that she had just grown used to ignoring were gone- and she was feeling great, it was just a few days too many. She had gotten her bags all packed up and was waiting anxiously at the entrance when Gerald came by to pick her up.

Vacation was over, and while it might be nice to come back for a day or two in the future, Nathalie was looking forward to being productive again. She was planning on a nice, slow reintroduction into her work, getting emails answered and working through a contract or two, nothing _too_ hard. There would be no disasters waiting for her, she knew, since Emilie or Adrien would have texted her.

What she _wasn't_ expecting, though, was an anxious Emilie waiting for her in her office.

"Nathalie, what do you know about Adrien and Marinette's relationship?" Emilie asked before Nathalie even had the chance to sit down. "I've thought that they're super-cute together, of course, but they're _so_ close. They've not even been dating for half a year!"

Nathalie winced. Oh, something must have happened.

To be perfectly honest, she didn't know _much_ about Adrien and Marinette's relationship. She hadn't even known for sure that they were dating until _after_ they got back from China and she asked Adrien directly. She knew, of course, that Adrien had been sleeping over at Marinette's house long before the two of them started dating. She knew that Adrien had really, _really_ loved going over to Marinette's house to have his meals there. He had found a new family with the Dupain-Chengs, and they had been _super_ supportive. She had learned a bit more about the start of their relationship since Adrien and Emilie's return, but not in _that_ much detail. They hadn't had _that_ much time to talk about stuff like that, not with Emilie around all the time. "Did- did something happen?"

"I told Adrien about how I was going to be divorcing Gabriel," Emilie said with a sigh. "And that then I would probably be doing a lot of paperwork down at City Hall. So I asked if he wanted me to put in a petition to change his last name while I was already down there and try to get rid of the Agreste name, or if he was attached to it at this point, and- well, he said that he would keep his last name for now, because if he changed it now then it would be too many changes to keep track of when he takes on Marinette's last name after they get married."

Nathalie only just kept her jaw from dropping. _Married?_ She could see why Mrs. Agreste would get a bit freaked out about that. At not-quite-yet sixteen, Adrien was _far_ too young to get married, or even to be thinking about it. And after only dating for a few months?

 _Yikes_.

"Well, I know that Marinette's family has been a _huge_ source of support over the past few months," Nathalie offered after several seconds had passed and she had pulled her composure back together. "So perhaps that's why he's so eager to be part of their family."

Emilie considered that. " _Still_. He can have that support without _marrying_ Marinette the moment that they're both of age. I just worry that he's going to rush into things."

"Well, Adrien still has a bit over two years until he's eighteen," Nathalie pointed out. "And Marinette is younger than him by most of a year, if I'm remembering correctly. So there's _plenty_ of time for Adrien to calm down and realize that there's no need to rush into anything. And I'm sure that the Dupain-Chengs will keep them from doing anything _too_ hasty."

"They could get engaged earlier, though." Emilie still looked distressed. "And if they do that, they might feel compelled to go through with it. It's easy enough to stay friends with a ex boyfriend or girlfriend. It would be harder to stay on good terms with an ex _fiancée_ , I think. Especially if they don't have past experience with breaking up. And if her family has been a source of support, Adrien wouldn't want to lose that."

Nathalie wasn't quite sure what to say to that. Emilie made some good points, of course, and _yes_ , Adrien's impulsiveness was _much_ more obvious now compared to before her entrapment and rescue (and _boy_ that was probably one of the most concerning thing to see when considering Adrien's comment), but Nathalie thought that the two teens had _much_ better heads on their shoulders than that. "If it helps, Marinette is pretty level-headed. I believe that she and her parents were the ones who came up with the idea of her and Adrien postponing the start of their relationship until Adrien was in a better place emotionally after Gabriel's arrest."

Emilie looked interested in that. "That _is_ quite mature. When you say they postponed it..."

"Both of them clearly wanted to be together even before Gabriel was arrested, but they held off for several months, until Adrien was less upset and ready for a relationship. I'm sure that the Dupain-Chengs were the ones who told them that there was no need to rush into a relationship," Nathalie told Emilie. She didn't actually _know_ , of course, but that seemed like something that Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng would say, based on the few times she had met them. "And I'm sure they would say the same about an engagement."

"Maybe I should talk to them about what Adrien said, then," Emilie said with a sigh. "They would know how I should talk about it with Adrien for sure, I feel. I _should_ , since I'm his mom, but he's changed so much! And they've gotten to know him so well. When I was there, it almost..." She worried her lip, looking worried. "I wasn't there for long- there hasn't been the time- but it almost seemed like they knew Adrien better than I did."

"They've spent a lot of time with him though a lot of that change," Nathalie pointed out, hoping that what she was saying might help. "It's not your fault that you missed it. It'll take some time to get to know Adrien again."

Emilie's expression fell. " _Still_. My son's girlfriend's parents know him better than I do."

"And you know Adrien far better than Gabriel did, even though he was in the house for the entire past year," Nathalie responded. "You'll catch up."

Emilie looked thoughtful for a minute, clearly mulling the words over. Then she nodded, a small smile on her face. "Thanks, Nathalie. I'll head over to the bakery today and see if I can talk to Marinette's parents. I just- I want to make sure that Adrien isn't rushing into anything. I want to be the cool parent, of course, after everything Gabriel did, but letting a comment like _that_ slide..."

Nathalie could only nod. "Understandable."

"But enough worrying!" Emilie clapped her hands together, pasting a smile on her face. It didn't entirely hide the stress behind her expression, and Nathalie was sure that Emilie was _still_ worrying. "Marinette and I came up with some ideas about how some of the main rooms could be renovated, and I wanted to run them past you."

This time, Nathalie felt properly confident. _This_ was something that she knew how to deal with. No emotions, no _panicking_ over if she was saying the right thing or not, just "Of course. Which room do you want to do first?"

As Emilie started to explain, Nathalie couldn't help but smile. She didn't know what the future would bring, or how easy or hard it might be. There would be times of stress for sure, and no doubt there would be meltdowns on the part of both mother and son. But things were looking up, Nathalie was sure of it.

It was the start of a new era and frankly, she couldn't wait.


	6. Gabriel: Plotting

_a/n: Just a quick note that the Outtakes are not necessarily in chronological order- this (probably obviously) spans from after PatBC through a couple of the outtakes) and is entirely Gabriel Agreste being an utter piece of trash._

* * *

During his first few weeks in jail, Gabriel's mood fluctuated wildly.

He was crushed that he had been caught, angry that the superheroes had somehow outmaneuvered him. He was regretful, knowing now that he could have gotten Emilie back without all the trouble and fuss and _stress_ of being a supervillain. He was worried about Adrien's response to the whole arrest, but irritated that Adrien hadn't come in to visit despite Gabriel's calls home, insisting that he come in and listen to _his_ side of the story, darn it.

For a time he wallowed in despair, wishing that he had chosen a different path. If he had come forward, maybe there would have been a way for him to keep the Miraculous afterwards.

Not that he would have been able to _use_ it for any sort of personal gain that way, but he could have figured something out, surely.

He settled on pushing his emotions away and focusing on what he _could_ control now. It wasn't much, truth be told. Gabriel had been removed from the company- _his_ company, the one that he had built from the ground up- and was not privy to _any_ of the information about how it was going anymore. He didn't have Nooroo to order around, and the prison guards didn't take well to being given orders by prisoners. And on top of it all, Gabriel couldn't even contact Adrien- as soon as Gabriel had been arrested, he had lost parental rights and guardianship had been turned over to Nathalie, damn her- she had apparently tricked Gabriel into signing some forms that would make her Adrien's guardian if anything happened to Gabriel. He had protested and argued that as soon as he found out, trying to get his lawyer to fight it in court. But since he _had_ signed the paper (abet unknowingly) and Adrien was apparently happy with the arrangement, it got thrown out right away.

But what Gabriel _could_ control was the information that he _knew_. And with the right touch, he could wield that information like a weapon, giving up a little to put up an illusion of cooperation, of defeat and remorse.

He had always been good at playing to investors when needed. Even though he was a little out of practice with that now- he hadn't had to pander to people for _years_ , not since his company gained traction and became a huge fashion house- Gabriel remembered how to go through the motions well enough.

(After all, he had had to put on a facade when he was with Emilie, enough to keep her with him but not enough to make her think that he was giving up control. Even though he loved her- _obviously_ , since he was willing to go to such lengths to get her back- Gabriel was _not_ going to change who he was for _anyone_.)

So Gabriel made sure to tell the superheroes about the journals that would lead them to the temple, but didn't mention the _other_ journal, the one he kept secret in a lockbox under a false bottom of his closet in his bedroom, which had all of the coordinates that he and Emilie had taken on the way out, or the helicopter company that they had hired to fly them out and back every time. He told them where they could find the Peacock and all of the scrolls that he had gathered from the temple and smuggled out of Tibet, but never mentioned the translations that he had done and that were _surely_ still backed up somewhere, on a flash drive that had simply been misplaced at some point.

They would have everything they needed to find the temple and free Emilie, but it wouldn't be fast and it wouldn't be easy. On top of that, it would require camping and detransformation on the heroes' part- _including_ during the time when they would be in Emilie's company. Hopefully they would spend enough time together that Emilie would be able to pick the superheroes out on the street, or at the very least be able to track them down. Because if she did, it _should_ be easy enough to pay off a robber to go steal the Miraculous- he knew a few who could be bought, particularly if they could be rewarded with one of the lesser Miraculous in return- and then they could use the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous to change the past so that Gabriel _wouldn't_ get arrested.

After all, what was the point of Emilie coming back if Gabriel could only see her on occasion, a short visit once a week instead of all day, every day? He would get out of jail eventually, surely- he had the best lawyer money could buy, a man who lived far enough outside of Paris that he had never been affected by the akuma attacks- but Gabriel was sure that Emilie would be more than willing to simply erase the evidence that he had been arrested. Reputation was important, after all, and it wasn't as though doing so would actually _hurt_ anybody.

The trial itself took over a month to start. Gabriel met with his lawyer practically every day, working together to figure out their angle. There was no way for him to be declared innocent, they knew that- having Ladybug and Chat Noir testify would ensure that- but if they played up the tragic husband angle, a frantic husband and father _desperate_ to get his wife back and willing to go to extreme lengths to do so, then he might get a reduced sentence.

Somewhat unnecessary, once his plan to get the Miraculous worked. But it was a goal nonetheless, a backup plan in case the retrieval of the Miraculous didn't go as planned. Besides, it was a matter of pride, a goal to work for from inside the jail.

The trial was a test of both his patience and his acting skills. Both Adrien and Nathalie testified _against_ him, which was utterly infuriating (and Gabriel only saw Adrien when he was testifying, as he seemed to be largely avoiding the trial, and he _never_ got to speak to his son). All sorts of people testified about the effects of the attacks- which was _dumb_ , because Ladybug had cleaned _everything_ up, there were no lasting effects- and then Ladybug and Chat Noir testified as well. Gabriel tried arguing that the superheroes had broken and entered- after all, Gabriel had been attacked from _behind_ \- but all it took to dismiss _that_ argument was pointing out that the superheroes had had prior knowledge of who he was and so didn't need a warrant. Gabriel had played up his belief that he hadn't had any other choices and claimed that he had felt guilty that Emilie was the one trapped instead of him.

Emilie wasn't the only actor in the family, after all. Gabriel could play his part well, even if it _did_ require setting his pride aside for a bit.

Deliberations went on, and on, and on. Gabriel waited impatiently for the verdict, fighting to keep a lid on his temper as things got more and more drawn out.

How much could there _possibly_ be to discuss? It was frankly ridiculous. They could do their required slap on the wrist and be done with it.

And then the verdict came. Fifteen to twenty years in jail, depending on his behavior.

Gabriel _snarled_ at the news. _Fifteen to twenty years?_ That was forever! He had hoped for ten at _most_ , and even that was a bit excessive in his opinion, considering that none of the damage caused by akumas had actually lasted. Sure, he had had some illegal weapons, but his lawyer had argued that charge down by pointing out that _obviously_ they were all dummy missiles, just for intimidation and show, because as people could see, they never discharged.

His main plan _had_ to work now, it just had to. There was no _way_ that Gabriel was going to spend the majority of the remainder of his life behind bars.

After everything he had done to try to get Emilie back, being kept away from her would be _terrible_. Besides, Adrien would be coming of age soon enough. He needed a firm hand to keep him in line and to make sure that he stayed on the path that Gabriel had picked out for him. Gabriel knew that Emilie wouldn't actually enforce anything like that if Adrien pouted a bit- she was too _soft_ , one of her few flaws- and Nathalie- well, Nathalie hadn't been making Adrien come and visit him, so there was no way that she would actually deter Adrien from making decisions on his own.

The weeks crept by. Gabriel's lawyer was the only one who came by and even he only rarely visited now. After most of a year of having a kwami by his side at every moment, it was a jarring change. His calls to the house to try to catch either Nathalie or Adrien were rarely answered. Even when Nathalie _did_ answer (usually when she clearly hadn't paid attention to the number), she rarely stayed on for long and never actually told him anything that he wanted to know.

He still hadn't forgiven her for the guardianship grab. Maybe he would have changed his tune if she _ever_ made Adrien come in and visit, but she was softer than her last name suggested.

Towards Adrien, that was. Not Gabriel. Gabriel hadn't even gotten any updates on what Adrien was up to in _weeks_. For all he knew, Adrien could be all the way across the world.

And then he got the news. Emilie, found, rescued, and returned to Paris, reunited with Adrien.

Gabriel celebrated (well, _internally_ celebrated. He had to keep his composure, after all). It was only a matter of time before Emilie visited him in jail and after that, only a matter of weeks or months before the timeline could get revised and he could get out, free to run his company and direct his wife and son like he was meant to. He just had to wait until she came.

And wait, and wait. Days crept by, turning into a week, and there was still no sign of Emilie. Gabriel paced in his cell, waiting for his wife to arrive.

Surely she would come. Surely she was _curious_ enough to at least come listen to his side of the story? She would know well enough that the press would try to paint an inaccurate picture of him.

...surely she wouldn't stay away forever? Gabriel knew that he had maybe endangered Adrien a few times with his akumas, but most of those times were accidents and the rest were really unavoidable. She _had_ to realize that. Emilie was smart.

And then she came. Gabriel got the news in the middle of the afternoon and could barely contain his stride as the guards walked him towards the visiting area. Then they rounded a corner and he spotted her sitting there at the counter, gorgeous as ever if perhaps a little thinner than before.

It was probably because of traveling with the superheroes and them having a limited amount of food to go around as they traveled back to Paris. Gabriel felt a little bad about that- he never wanted her to suffer- but it was necessary.

Besides, altering the timeline would erase all of that, just like it would erase Adrien being in danger and Gabriel getting sent to jail.

Saying that their meeting did not go as Gabriel had expected would be an understatement, to say the least. Emilie seemed thoroughly _charmed_ by those annoying superheroes and unwilling to go through with his plan. She had stormed out and he had gotten dragged back to his cell, clearly in far more trouble than before.

Had Emilie _really_ needed to shout his plan to the entire jail before leaving? He knew that she got emotional easily, but now they would have to be _much_ more delicate about things once she came around. The jail would no doubt tip the superheroes off about his plan and they would be on high alert.

…..or perhaps they wouldn't, since Emilie had been very vocal about not being willing to do it. As long as that bit was mentioned, the superheroes would in theory relax a bit more around Emilie, leaving room for them to slip up enough for her to get their Miraculous.

Yes, that could work. Gabriel flopped back on his bed, mind already whirring. He could still twist this in his favor, of that he was sure.

And this time, he wouldn't fail.


	7. Adrien: Future

_a/n: So this spans several months and several of the other outtakes- it should be fairly obvious where there are overlaps with other chapters, I think. This is the last chapter of Outtakes and also the last bit of the Plagg and the Butterfly Costume universe!_

* * *

Adrien _loved_ having his mom back.

It wasn't all smooth and easy, not by a long shot. She had a _lot_ to deal with in order to get reintegrated into the life that she had been pulled from. She wanted to spend time with him, of course, since she had been missing for a year, and she wanted to get to know all of his friends and other classmates, but she couldn't _just_ do the fun stuff. She had to talk to police and tell them what had happened when she went missing, and catch up with what was going on with the company, and then deal with the reporters that kept clamoring to know what had happened.

And then, of course, there was the whole need to deal with his father. She hadn't told him what had gone down during her visit to the prison, but she hadn't seemed very happy afterwards.

But his mom was getting along with his friends really well, and she seemed to _adore_ Marinette already. Adrien had definitely heard the two of them discussing how they might renovate the front hall area to make it not so intimidating, and she seemed to really listen to what Marinette had to say.

...Adrien was a little concerned that he and Marinette wouldn't get any time to properly _relax_ together, between them simply spending time with his mom, meeting up with their other friends that they hadn't seen for the first half of the summer, and doing all of the shopping for the impending redecoration. His schedule had already started up again with fencing and basketball and piano and photoshoots, keeping him busy for several hours each day almost five days each week. His mom had agreed to not resuming his Mandarin classes as long as he spent some time chatting with Mrs. Cheng every week, so he didn't have that, but _still_.

At least she had agreed to let him continue going to public school. Otherwise, Adrien probably would have had tutors starting to come in on top of everything else, and his summer would be done for.

(To be fair, she hadn't even argued that one. It was just automatically a given that Adrien would be returning to school, it seemed.)

"Sitting around doing nothing isn't all it's cracked up to be," Marinette assured him one day as he was practicing piano and she was listening, perched on the bench next to him. "It gets boring. I know Nino was talking it up, but he probably lasted for all of one full day before needing to do literally _anything_ else at all."

"He's not gotten his full day of relaxation, either. He texted me grumbling about it." In fact, out of all of them, only Chloe hadmanaged to sit back and fully relax. Alya had had to babysit her sisters, Nino had been put in charge of his little brother Chris, Master Fu had re-opened his business, Mrs. Cheng had been working in the bakery again filling in for a worker that had come down ill right after her return, Adrien had had his activities, and Marinette alternated between designing, helping in the bakery with especially large orders, and helping his mom with redesign and renovation plans. "Maybe once we're back in school we'll get a Saturday free or something."

"And we've had half days here and there to hang out," Marinette pointed out. "Even if there _were_ some very noisy kids around."

Adrien winced at the memory of Chris, Ella, and Etta running around screaming at the pool on top of the Grand Paris on their last afternoon out. If it hadn't been for their connections to Chloe, Mr. Bourgeois probably would have tossed them out right away.

(If Chloe had actually been there and not on a shopping spree, _she_ would have probably kicked them out herself, friends or no. They had gotten the kids to calm down after a bit, but they _were_ still a bit splashy.)

"Maybe we can go on a date this week and have an afternoon and evening to ourselves," Adrien suggested, finishing up the song with a practiced flourish and sitting back. "Not to do anything fancy, but maybe pizza and a movie? Or go to the arcade and trounce everyone's high scores."

Marinette beamed at him. "Oh, I'd like that," she agreed. "We can maybe start with one and move to the other after dinner, depending on when shows are playing and how late the arcade is open. Will your mom let us be out that long?"

"She's being strangely lenient about me being out and about." It was surprising, really. Adrien had prepared himself to be coddled to the point of nearly being smothered, but instead he had nearly as much freedom as he had had with Nathalie and the Gorilla watching him. Nathalie had warned that it probably wouldn't last forever- his mom probably felt guilty about leaving him on his own and about all that he had had to go through while she was gone, and was still trying to figure out where to set new boundaries now that he had gotten used to more freedom.

Adrien was going to enjoy his freedom while he still had it. Once his mom set new limits, there was a possibility that some of the stuff that he had taken for granted over the past couple of months would be off-limits until he turned 18- or until after he had graduated university and moved out.

The sleepovers were already out-of-bounds, they didn't even need to _ask_ to know that much- and Adrien didn't want hangouts in the park to be next, just because some fangirls (and fan _guys_ ) didn't understand the concept of leaving him alone and his mom was worried about them harassing him.

"Right, so let me check my calendar." Adrien pulled out his phone, hoping that his mom wasn't going to come investigate if she didn't hear piano music for a while. He knew that he was meant to be practicing, and he _did_ have a lot of ground to make up after not playing much after his father's arrest and not practicing at all for the first part of the summer, but his girlfriend was _right there._ After being together all the time on the trail, their separation back in Paris was jarring. So sue him if he maybe wanted to set practice aside for a little bit to figure out when they could have another proper date before their evenings filled up with homework and projects again. "Ooh, it looks like most of my photoshoots have passed! I only have one this week."

"More fall stuff?"

Adrien winced at the reminder that he would have to get dressed up in clothes that were _far_ toowarm for the hot Paris weather. " _Ugh_. Yeah. Promise you'll come rescue me?"

"I can bring iced lemonade again. Does that work?"

"That sounds _purr_ -fect, my Lady."

* * *

"Oh, we're getting dirt all over the floor!"

Adrien grinned at his mom's distressed exclamation. "Mom, we have a broom. And a top-of-the-line vacuum."

"And mops," Marinette added, trying to push her hair out of her face without actually touching it with her dirt-covered hands. She wasn't entirely successful. "It'll all come up! We knew it would get messy! That's why we didn't put the rugs down yet."

"Oh, but _still_." Mrs. Agreste scanned the footprint-covered floor. "I know we wanted the entry hall to look lived in, but this is going a little too far."

Adrien caught sight of Nathalie peeking out of the office at the mess and wincing before vanishing back into the room. He grinned at that. Nathalie wasn't used to seeing the mansion in anything but perfect shape, and right now, in the middle of their redecorating, the front entry hall was anything but perfect. The couches, chairs, tables, and rugs that Marinette and his mom had found for the space on one of their little outings were shoved together and piled up in one corner, waiting to be arranged. Another corner was filled with their new curtains, the light, airy fabric draped over the banister of the stairs and trailing across the floor in anticipation of being hung later on.

And in the middle of the space, almost every centimeter of floor was covered by planters, pots of plants, and bags of dirt. Marinette had come up with the idea to replace the old planters, formerly filled with dark red plants, and replace them with a number of new ones, light and fun instead of dark and businesslike, and then fill them with a more playful arrangement of plants. Ferns and bamboos and palms and orchids and all sorts of plants Adrien didn't recognize were scattered around them, waiting to be planted and arranged around the room, making his mom and Marinette's vision for the space a reality.

Of course, before they could get planted, they needed to actually fill the planters up with dirt. That...was taking a while.

Mostly because Marinette was the only one out of the three of them to really be willing to get elbow-deep in dirt and fertilizer. Adrien was doing his best, he really was, but he wasn't used to the feeling of dirt under his fingernails, and his mom was fussing over the dirt that was getting on her clothes and on the floor. Apparently she was willing to put up with a little dirt while camping, but not at home in Paris.

Adrien could relate, honestly. He felt the same way.

Things got sped up when the Gorilla came in, saw Marinette wrestling with a heavy bag of dirt just as big as she was, and heaved a sigh before helping them get all of the containers filled properly in no time at all.

"Okay, arrangement time!" Adrien's mom said cheerfully once the empty bags were cleared away. "Marinette, dear, what were you planning on doing?"

As Marinette and his mom planned which plants would go where, Adrien became the muscle, rushing around to get the plants they pointed out and placing them in front of their designated planters. There was a bit of back-and-forth before they settled on their arrangements, making notes to go back and out and buy a couple more of certain types of the plants, and then it was time to actually remove all of the plants from their flimsy plastic pots and get them in the planters.

By that time, the Gorilla had managed to return with a couple hand trowels and gardening gloves. Adrien pulled his on eagerly, grinning at the cat pattern that ran across the back of the gloves. His mom cooed over her own ladybug-spotted gloved before diving into the work with renewed vigor.

"This place is going to look so nice once we're finished," Mrs. Agreste said eagerly as they started arranging things in the first of their planters. Now that they were past the step of wrestling with heavy bags of dirt, her cheerful mood had returned. "Just switching out the painting already has changed the mood of the room!"

Adrien nodded, glancing up the main stairs. Up on the landing, overseeing the entire room, the dark portrait of Adrien and Mr. Agreste had been replaced as soon as possible with a colorful painting of flowers and butterflies. His mom hadn't been sure about having butterflies in the picture at first, but Adrien and Marinette had eventually convinced her that not all butterflies were bad, so there was no reason why she should avoid them.

Besides, there were no _purple_ butterflies in the painting.

"And then the electrician is going to come in this afternoon and switch out those _ugly_ light fixtures," Mrs. Agreste continued, absentmindedly stroking the fronds of a fern. "And then- what else will we have to do, Marinette? There's so much."

"All of the rugs and couches and everything will get put out," Marinette reminded her, patting the dirt down firmly around a plant with trailing vines. "And the curtains will go up. It's not _that_ much, really, it's just bulky."

"Can you really call them curtains if they don't really block any light?" Adrien mused, handing Marinette a plant with silvery leaves. "They have about as much substance to them as a wisp of a cloud. Not that I don't like them, of course, I trust your vision, but..."

Marinette giggled. "They're just for show. Fabric makes softer lines."

"We're all going to get a good night's sleep tonight, that's for sure," Mrs. Agreste announced. "And- oh, this plant won't come out!"

It took them nearly three hours just to get the planters all finished, though a couple had small notes on them with what needed to be added in the future. The three of them headed in for lunch with growling stomachs and dirty hands, and it was only Nathalie catching them at the door that made them remember that they had to wash up first.

As they ate, Adrien couldn't stop smiling. It never failed to make him amazingly, stupendously happy when he saw how well his mom and Marinette got along. He had worried about it at first, of course- if his mom would feel like Marinette was taking up too much of Adrien's time, or if she might not like Marinette simply because she felt that he was too young for dating, or- well, _anything_ , really. He had read so many stories and seen so many shows where the main character had to deal with a disapproving family, and Adrien had been so, _so_ worried that he might have to deal with something similar.

Thankfully his mom didn't seem to have any problems with him dating- she was quite supportive of it, it seemed- and she _adored_ Marinette. The two of them had hit it off right away.

She would love Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng once she got to spend more time with them, of that Adrien was sure. They had only had time for a few short meetings so far, since both families were understandably busy, and, well, so far, so good.

Lunch went by too fast, and then they were back out in the front room, moving the planters into place. Thankfully they all had tiny wheels on the bottoms, making it easy- well, _easier_ , the planters were still heavy- to get things into place. The white planters and colorful plants filling them hid a lot of the dark marble and filled in a bit of the empty space around the room, already making it feel a lot nicer.

"We were thinking of doing a hanging herb garden over that bit of marble so that the cook could use fresh herbs without having to get them from the store, but the hanger hasn't arrived yet," Marinette told Adrien as they maneuvered the last of the planters into place. "And there'll be air plants around the room, too, but we're still trying to figure out where."

"It'll be easier to tell once we have everything else in place," Mrs. Agreste told them. "There's no point in overdecorating and making the place feel cluttered."

Their maid appeared out of thin air to help them clean up all of the dirt on the floor, sweeping and vacuuming and then supervising Adrien and Marinette as they mopped up the last bits of dirt. She made sure that the floor was dry enough for them to not slip and fall before vanishing again, taking the cleaning supplies with her.

"Rugs next?" Mrs. Agreste asked. "Maybe the large one first?"

Wrestling the large entry run into place was a hard, sweaty task, but it was _so_ worth it once it was settled. It covered the large black-and-white motif on the floor and made everything not feel so _empty_. There were a couple more smaller rugs, ones that would go under the tables and chairs, and one fun little mat that Marinette had made for their shoes.

That one got tucked behind the planters at the entrance, mostly hidden from view but still _fun_.

The rest of the day went by in a rush of sweat and sore muscles. The electrician came, switching the light fixtures in the entry area from straightforward and functional to more artsy and brighter, switching the light's tone from cold to warm. The Gorilla helped them hang the light, airy curtains, softening the windows. A few smaller paintings went up around the room, adding color to the space without tearing anything out.

Adrien's personal favorite, though, was the several comfy benches and chairs posted around the space, some obvious and others tucked away behind the planters. Near them, a couple tables had been arranged and decorated with warm lamps. Per Marinette's idea, baskets with blankets in them had been tucked under the tables, in case anyone wanted to curl up in a corner with a cup of tea and a book.

His mom had forbidden the two of them from using the hidden chairs to make out. Whether or not she was being entirely serious, Adrien wasn't sure.

"Well, I think we did a good job," Mrs. Agreste said once the last of the tables was in place. She pushed her hair off of her face. "I don't know about you, but I need a shower now. We have showers in the guest rooms," she added, looking at Marinette. "And Adrien has plenty of extra soap, or you can use some of mine if you want. Then maybe we can have some ice cream and plan what room to attack next?"

"Are you trying to steal my girlfriend away again, Mom?" Adrien joked. "Maybe I wanted to spend some time with her."

His mom giggled. "How about we keep the planning under an hour, and then I can give you money for the two of you to go out for dinner?"

Adrien pretended to think it over. "Hmm. I _suppose_."

"That sounds lovely," Marinette told Mrs. Agreste. She playfully poked Adrien in the side. "Adrien can share for a bit longer."

Adrien could only laugh.

* * *

Adrien had messed up.

He hadn't _meant_ to freak his mom out, he really hadn't. But he _had_ spoken without thinking, talking about his relationship with Marinette as though he were in front of Tom and Sabine instead of his own mom, who didn't know the whole picture. Who didn't know that he and Marinette had been close as Ladybug and Chat Noir before finding out each other's civilian identities. Who thought that Adrien and Marinette had only been friends for a couple months before they started dating, because that was what Nathalie had told her and several of their classmates had apparently said the same thing.

So yeah, in hindsight he could see where his mom would maybe not take him casually mentioning that he fully planned on marrying Marinette in the future well. But hindsight wasn't going to help him now.

Nathalie had warned him that his mom would likely get strict again, setting boundaries that he didn't much like because he was used to getting free rein. Adrien just hadn't expected the change to be so _sudden,_ rules materializing overnight even though there hadn't been any issues before.

His door couldn't be closed if Marinette was over, and they were meant to do homework together in the dining room instead of his room. He had to let his mom know if he was going over to Marinette's house and for how long and if they would be supervised. She had to know when Marinette came over to visit him. Dates had to end right after dinner, and wouldn't it be fun if they did _group_ dates instead of individual ones? When Marinette _did_ come over, it seemed like his mom always _just happened_ to get off work early to come home and watch them together.

In short, he was being heavily oversupervised.

His mom _had_ apparently talked to Marinette's parents at one point, right after his accidental slip-up, but they had only had a few minutes to chat since the bakery was so busy. It seemed that their chat had only made his mom _more_ anxious, though, since Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng hadn't seemed _that_ surprised about Adrien's declaration and clearly had a bit more relaxed parenting style.

His mom didn't really like it when he went over to Marinette's house for exactly that reason, actually. She didn't think that they would be adequately supervised.

"My parents have Sundays off," Marinette told him as they ate lunch together on the school steps after two weeks of Mrs. Agreste's hovering. "Maybe she can sit down and have a _proper_ conversation with them then? Because I don't think they gave off a very good impression that one time when they were _super_ busy and your mom came over in a panic. I can ask them to invite her over this weekend, and then maybe you can have some of your freedom back."

"We can stop having her hovering over our shoulders, you mean?" Adrien dropped his chin onto the top of Marinette's head, giving in to the urge to cuddle despite the still-warm early fall weather. "Yeah, I liked it better when we could just hang out and she was encouraging us to go on dates instead of making sure that there was someone around all the time so that we don't rush anything."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. And maybe no more comments about getting _married_ ," she added, giving Adrien a Look. "Or else she'll still be following us around and making sure that we're behaving when we're in university. We won't get to do anything except cheek kisses ever again."

"I probably shouldn't tell her that you've already come up with names for our kids, then?"

" _Adrien!_ "

* * *

Adrien and Marinette didn't get to sit in on the Sunday morning meeting between their parents. Instead, they were sent off to the park with a picnic basket of pastries and fruit.

It would have been easier to enjoy their breakfast if they weren't worried about what was happening in the Dupain-Cheng kitchen. Adrien was mostly worried about the Dupain-Chengs accidentally saying something that would make his mom _really_ not trust them and not want him around Marinette any more.

If they let on that Adrien had slept over before, that would be it. He probably wouldn't be able to date again until he turned 18- or worse, until he was through with University.

"I wish she would trust us more," Adrien said quietly as they sat back against the trunk of a large tree- or, rather, as Marinette sat against the tree and Adrien reclined with his head on her lap. "Like, I can see where what I said might have freaked her out, and then Nathalie told me that it wasn't helping that your family was my main support network when I found out about Father."

Marinette frowned. "Wait, why?"

"Because I wouldn't want to break up with you and lose them, too." Adrien squeezed Marinette's hand. "But I know that your parents wouldn't just stop talking to me if we broke up, as long as it wasn't messy. That's just not their style."

"They adore you." Marinette rested against Adrien's side. "Hopefully they'll tell her that and she'll believe them. They'll probably still be more lenient with us than your mom will after their meeting no matter what, but she doesn't know about the kwamis. And the kwamis are why they're fine with us being in my room by ourselves."

"I don't mind keeping my door open. I understand that, and Nino and Alya both said that their parents enforce that as well. It's the constant _supervision_ when we're just hanging out." Adrien groaned and stretched. "Constant _parental_ supervision, that is. Tikki and Plagg are different."

"Yeah, because they're off doing their own thing half of the time." Marinette ran a hand through Adrien's hair, drawing a purr out of him. "I can understand where your mom is coming from, really, it's just..."

"She overreacted?"

"Yeah."

It was a full two hours before Marinette's phone dinged with a text to let them know that they could come back up. It didn't say how the parent meeting had gone, so both teens were a bit anxious as they headed back across the park towards the bakery.

They found three smiling parents at the door.

"See, I told you they wouldn't be long," Tom said with a laugh, reaching out to usher them in. "Don't look so worried, you two. We had a good chat."

"We cleared up a couple misunderstandings," Mrs. Agreste chimed in. "And came up with a revised list of rules."

Adrien and Marinette turned their expectant, hopeful looks on her.

"I'll stop hovering," she told them. "Though I still expect the bedroom door to be open when you both are in there."

Adrien and Marinette nodded in unison. They had expected that. It was fairly standard.

"And I still want you to text when you're going anywhere other than home or your regular activities," Mrs. Agreste continued. "Just to know where you are, in case you lose track of time or something comes up. That's just a safety thing."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah! That sounds reasonable."

"And we can discuss curfew times after dates later on," Mrs. Agreste told them. "We want to be reasonable, of course, but you're both young. It's not smart to stay out _super_ late, we all agreed on that."

"In the past, we've always aimed to get home by nine," Marinette told her. "Unless there was a movie or concert that we wanted to go to that ran later, and then we discussed it with Nathalie and my parents beforehand."

Mrs. Agreste perked up. "Oh, that is _very_ reasonable."

"And we made sure not to do late movies on nights when either of us had something we needed to be up for early the next morning," Adrien added. "And it's a once-a-week thing. We're not going to go overboard with it."

"I know." His mom reached out, pulling him into a hug. "You two are smart. I just- it's a lot to take in and adjust to."

Adrien nodded. He knew that. He could see the strain that everything was taking on her- from getting back into her job to getting to know his new friends to dealing with the whole deal with his father (the divorce, the new charges against his father's _continued_ planning to get the Miraculous, all of the reporters wanting to get an inside scoop). Even if he didn't like it, it made sense that she might try to control what she could.

He was just _immensely_ grateful that Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng could get through to her and talk her out of going too far with her overprotective parenting.

"It's a learning process as the kids grow up," Mrs. Cheng said fondly, patting Marinette's shoulder. "You want them to stay young forever, but they don't. All you can do is make sure that they have the support and the knowledge that they need to grow and fly."

"It's the _letting go_ part of that I'm having trouble with," Mrs. Agreste said wistfully, though there was no disagreement in either her voice or her face. "I liked the ten-year-old stage. They're still cute but can take care of themselves, but there's no dating to worry about."

Adrien gasped, playing up the wounded look. "You don't think that I'm _cute_ , mom? I'm hurt! Marinette, you still think that I'm cute, right?"

That broke any lingering tension and they all laughed. Mrs. Agreste shook her head as she giggled, ruffling Adrien's hair.

They stayed for another half an hour, chatting idly about what was going on at school and around Paris, and then Adrien and Mrs. Agreste had to leave to go meet up with an old friend of hers.

"See you at school tomorrow," Adrien told Marinette, dipping in for a quick kiss before pulling back. "I can send you my schedule tonight and we can figure out when we can get together with Max and work on our group project."

"That sounds good." Marinette returned the quick kiss and beamed up at him. "Can I text you later if I have any trouble on the Chem homework?"

"You bet. Even if you don't, we could Skype and work on it together."

Tom laughed. "You haven't already gotten it done? What were you _doing_ for the past couple hours?"

"Breakfast in the park and worrying about what was going on up here." Adrien grinned cheekily. "We're expert worriers."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "You guys have no faith in us, honestly. There was nothing to worry about."

It didn't take long for them to get out the door, and then it was just Adrien and his mom again as they headed back up the street towards home. It was one of the last nice days of the season, so they had opted to walk instead of having the Gorilla pick them up.

"I'm glad that I had a chance to properly sit down with Marinette's parents and talk," Mrs. Agreste commented as they rounded the corner and headed past the park. "They're lovely people, and I would have hated to be at odds over me misunderstanding them before. We had never really talked about boundaries in your relationship before, just about... well, everything else."

Adrien nodded. That was understandable. He knew that his mom had been _really_ concerned about what he had gone through and how he had grown so much over the past year. Figuring out the dynamics of what had initially seemed like a normal teenaged relationship was naturally pretty far down on the list of things to do. "And then I seemed too serious, too soon."

"Right. It didn't help that I was a bit anxious about what the effects of a break-up might be like," Mrs. Agreste added. "I've seen people get married young and then divorced shortly afterwards, and I've been finding out just how much a pain in the rear it is to get a divorce. It's not just a matter of signing a paper and being done with it."

"I'm not going to rush into anything," Adrien assured her. It was true, more or less. They weren't _rushing_ at all, but to an outside view, it might appear that they were. "We didn't when we started dating, because we knew that there was no reason _not_ to wait a month or so for everything to settle down and for me to be properly ready. It wasn't going to be healthy to get into a relationship when I was still coming to terms with- well, with everything."

His mom's smile grew. "Yes, I heard about that! I hadn't known about that before. Given the timeline I had been hearing about, I had assumed that you two had started dating either right before or right after Gabriel was arrested. And Marinette's parents said that they had already talked with you guys about not rushing into marriage?"

"Not rushing into marriage or anything else," Adrien agreed. Yeah, he wasn't going to forget _that_ conversation any time soon. He was pretty sure that he hadn't been able to look Mr. Dupain or Mrs. Cheng in the eye for several days after that, but he couldn't deny that the conversation had been an important one to have, and was pretty informative to boot. "They said that it's important to build a good foundation instead of rushing to hit milestones. There'll be time for that stuff later on."

"They're very wise." Adrien could see the look that his mom was giving him out of the corner of his eye. "You seem to have paid attention to what they told you."

"Of course, they've been happily married for _ages!_ " There was no doubt that Marinette's parents were _excellent_ role models and had a stable, loving marriage. Adrien wanted to have a marriage like that- well, when he grew up and was old enough, that was. If they were willing to share any of their advice, Adrien was going to sit up, listen, and take notes. "They clearly did something right."

"What else have they told you?"

"Besides not to rush?" Adrien thought about it. "Communication! They're big on communication. Letting the other person know when something is wrong and then listening. Not waiting until something becomes a big issue to address it. Making sure that one person isn't putting in all the effort in- well, in the relationship, in a household, whatever- while the other person coasts by." He grinned. "They've been teaching me how to do things like dishes and laundry and cooking and cleaning. And baking, of course."

"You're probably a better cook than I am, then," his mom admitted with a laugh. "I haven't in _years_ , since we have a chef."

"I can teach you! And Marinette can help. She's really good at stopping me before I can make too many mistakes when we cook together-" Adrien caught himself. Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng had suggested that part of his mom's concern might have stemmed from how attached he and Marinette were. They did a _lot_ of stuff together, preferring to attack things that they had to get done as a team. It might be nice to have some things reserved for mother-son bonding only. "I mean, if you want to."

"I'll... think about it."

* * *

Things improved a lot after that. Mrs. Agreste was supportive of Adrien and Marinette's relationship, but not to the point where Adrien was wondering if the pod people had taken her over. She didn't hover, letting them have their privacy as long as they didn't abuse the privilege.

She didn't tease them like Tom and Sabine did- she still wasn't as laid-back about their relationship as Tom and Sabine were- but that was okay. It was understandable. She still had a different parenting style than they did, and she didn't know that they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, the Heroes of Paris.

That was okay, though. Mrs. Agreste was giving them enough freedom to have a comfortable relationship now, and she was talking to Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng on a regular basis. There wasn't any tension between her and Marinette like there had been after Adrien's marriage comment, and questions about their dates had gone back to sounding like a curious mom, rather than tense interrogation.

No doubt there would be shifts in the future, times when she felt like Adrien was growing up too fast and she would overreact about it, and he would have to push back. For now, though, they had found a good balance.

For once, Adrien could have it _all_ \- a parent who was there and _present_ , a fantastic, supportive girlfriend, and a whole army of friends. It didn't matter that his father was going to trial again on _continued_ conspiracy to steal the Miraculous and change the timeline to get out of jail, or that there were still reporters who occasionally tried to stop him or his mom on the street to get an interview. They were inconsequential details, really, unable to permeate the bubble of happiness that had surrounded Adrien in one form or another, ever since his mom returned to Paris.

And to think- it was all because Plagg had wanted more cheese.


End file.
